Star power helping to save our kiwi
Anything that generates positive focus on a project is welcome.
Emma Dent
Celebrities talking about New Zealand’s conservation efforts has been a boon for the birds, bringing in more than a million dollars in donations.
On Wednesday, American actor Leonardo DiCaprio praised The Capital Kiwi Project, which traps predators and releases kiwi in a large block of land in the Wellington region, to his 62.1 million followers on Instagram.
It has released 110 kiwi in Wellington and Porirua so far, and plans to release 16 more into the Karori bush next week.
Since then, Capital Kiwi has gained thousands of new followers on Instagram, and founder Paul Ward told RNZ there had been a spike in donations with hundreds of dollars coming since then.
DiCaprio has also previously posted about the hatching of 18 kak¯ı chicks as part of a Department of Conservation project.
Emma Dent from The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand said it can be hard for conservation organisations to get recognition for the work that they do.
“Anything that generates positive focus on a project is welcome.
“Comment from people with the high profile of Leonardo DiCaprio, who are champions of nature, are certainly a good way of drawing attention to an issue when it is something that the person cares deeply about, and we can see that it aligns with their values.”
It comes after British comedian John Oliver campaigned for the pu¯ teketeke to win Bird of the Century last year.
The campaign included billboard advertisements in New Zealand, England, France, India and the United States, promotion on his show Last Week Tonight and an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon dressed in full-on grebe garb.
Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said tens of thousands of people from 195 countries voted and donated $1,180,000 as a result.