Small kiwi makes appearance
Bird’s eye view as 2000th brown kiwi chick at National Kiwi Hatchery in Rotorua hatches live on net
The National Kiwi Hatchery in Rotorua has welcomed their 2000th brown kiwi chick. The long-awaited arrival was scheduled to happen on Tuesday afternoon right through to yesterday, with a livestream set up of the little egg.
Then early yesterday, a small beak could be seen protruding from the surface.
Slowly the hole grew bigger and bigger before a small fluffy brown kiwi fell out to make its world debut.
The first-in-the-world livestream followed the 2000th egg in its journey to become the newest kiwi celebrity.
The egg was laid somewhere between 75 and 78 days ago.
The National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua, is the leading kiwi hatchery in the world, incubating and hatching more than 130 kiwi chicks each year.
Out of every 100 kiwi eggs laid in burrows in the forest, only five kiwi chicks will make it to adulthood.
By hatching the kiwi eggs in safety at the hatchery and caring for them until they reach a “stoatproof” weight of 1kg, their survival rate increases to 65 per cent.
The National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa received their first kiwi egg in 1995.
After the chick has hatched, the team at the National Kiwi Hatchery will give it a full health check-up and then place it in a specially designed hatcher.
After two days the chick will be moved to a brooder box — a creche for baby kiwi that’s a nice safe, warm place to grow up without having to worry about predators.
At 3 weeks, the chick will be released into an outdoor enclosure mimicking natural forest conditions, staying there until it grows to 1kg in weight.
After it’s aged four to five months it will be returned to the wild, big enough to fend for itself in the face of any predators.
Rainbow Springs is owned and operated by Ngai Tahu Tourism, which is also the National Kiwi Hatchery’s biggest sponsor.
Slowly the hole grew bigger and bigger before a small fluffy brown kiwi fell out to make its world debut.