Foreword from the Minister of Conservation
My first sight of a kiwi was as a small boy peering through glass in the kiwi house at Auckland Zoo. They were larger than I first thought, with a furry plumage, poking their long beaks into the leaf litter for grubs, oblivious to me staring through the glass. What they lacked in wings they made up for with powerful legs and feet.
But, strong though they look, the kiwi is in trouble. They are attacked by roaming dogs, ferrets and feral cats; they get run over by cars; and the juveniles are vulnerable to stoats. Where they are not managed for conservation, their numbers are in decline. Once there were millions of kiwi, now there are around 78,000, most of them in remote areas of New Zealand.
Kiwi live only in our country; there is nothing like them elsewhere in the world. Their closest relatives - the ostrich of southern Africa, the Australian emu and cassowary, the South American rhea - are more like the extinct moa than kiwi. It is the distinctiveness of the kiwi, its unusual shape, that has made a national icon of this instantly recognisable bird. All the more reason to protect the kiwi from extinction.
Fortunately for the kiwi, conservation is a growth industry in New Zealand. The Department of Conservation's multi-million dollar kiwi specific schemes are matched by more than 60 community-led projects, aimed mainly at controlling stoats and raising kiwi in captivity for later release into the wild. Bank of New Zealand Save The Kiwi Trust has played a huge role in funding kiwi conservation, in particular, the captive hatching and rearing programme known as Operation Nest Egg.
Great spotted kiwi/roroa, National
Wildlife Centre, Pukaha Mt Bruce
This brochure celebrates the good work being done around the country, to inspire confidence in the future for the kiwi, as well as describe the threats that kiwi in the wild face. There is no room to be complacent and all of us can play a part in improving the long-term survival chances.
In Northland, for instance, the effectiveness of stoat control is being undone by roaming dogs, a very difficult problem to fix and dog owners need to become part of the solution. In some parts of New Zealand, pig hunters have put their dogs through avian aversion schemes and this example of a positive attitude is to be encouraged.
With a shared commitment to protecting the kiwi, more of us may have the privilege of having our national bird living in or near our neighbourhoods. Only in New Zealand do we have this possibility; let's make it a reality.
Chris Carter
Former Minister of Conservation
December 2006
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