Ko¯hanga kiwi leave home
A kiwi named after the man who helped engineer Taranaki’s ground-breaking kiwi breeding project is one of 10 birds recently released into the wild.
The Taranaki Ko¯hanga Kiwi at Rotokare is a partnership set up in 2012 between the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust, to reintroduce kiwi into areas where predator control makes this possible.
Fifty-three kiwi from the ko¯ hanga will be released in total across three different sites in a project involving hundreds of people.
On Saturday, 10 kiwi from the sanctuary near Eltham were transferred to the To¯ tara block, a 600-hectare area of steep bush at Mangamingi.
Ten kiwi have already been released in the Kaitake Ranges, a further 10 will go to the To¯tara block, while 13 are off to Maungatautari, a sanctuary near Cambridge, with the rest being released on Taranaki Maunga.
One of those released at the weekend was Collins, a female kiwi about four years old, named after the late Simon Collins – the Rotokare sanctuary manager who died suddenly last month.
‘‘We thought it was a fitting thing to have that bird help to establish a new population. One of Simon’s aspirations was to see that happen,’’ Rotokare conservation manager Fiona Gordon said.
‘‘He was a founding member of the ko¯ hanga partnership and a key driver in the planning that led up to the translocations, so it’s been nice for the team to be able to honour him with the project coming to fruition.
‘‘It’s sad he’s not here to see it first hand.’’
The To¯tara block is part of a farm owned by Tim and Sue Hardwick-Smith.
Thanks to decades of predator control by the family and South Taranaki Forest and Bird Society members it is a safe haven for kiwi.
All 10 kiwi released there in 2020 have thrived and been breeding.
The predator-proof fence of Rotokare can be seen from there, glinting in the distance across bush clad hills, but getting the kiwi from the sanctuary to their new home was a momentous exercise involving dozens of volunteers.
The birds were caught at Rotokare and ferried in boxes lined with fern leaves to their new home, then released into temporary burrows deep in the bush.
More than 100 people made the trek over a muddy track, 40 minutes on foot or 20 minutes by ATV, to the Forest and Bird hut on Saturday, to welcome the new kiwi.
The support of the community was key to the project’s success, Gordon said.
‘‘Having people join us for the release is a great way to show how much we appreciate their support in all these pest management and wildlife management projects.