New Zealand opens hospital for kiwi birds

WELLINGTON: New Zealand on Friday opened its first hospital exclusively treating kiwi birds, and vets have already nursed the first patient back to health — a chick nicknamed “Splash” that tumbled into a swimming pool.

Rising numbers of the once threatened national bird have led to the construction of a purposebuilt facility in Kerikeri, a threehour drive north of Auckland.

The Department of Conservation told AFP that the new kiwi hospital is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The rehabilitation center, built by local conservation group Kiwi Coast, is in the heart of the Northland region, which has a brown kiwi population of nearly 10,000.

Roughly 26,000 brown kiwi live in the wild across New Zealand — a thousand more than in 2008, when conservationists classed them as “Nationally Vulnerable.” The species is now listed as “Not Threatened.”

The population growth is mostly due to conservation groups culling predators like stoats and ferrets, while dog owners have been offered special courses to teach pets not to attack the flightless bird.

With numbers climbing, Kiwi Coast coordinator Ngaire Sullivan said a specialist hospital was needed for sick or injured birds.

“Some will be struck by cars — the more kiwi we have, the more likely that there’s going to be the odd one that needs help,” she told AFP.

The center treated its first patient even before Friday’s official opening, when a young kiwi managed to squeeze through a fence and fall into a swimming pool filter

Before the hospital opened, injured or ill birds had to be driven for at least an hour to get treatment.

“There were incidents where kiwi didn’t survive the journey, which is one of the main reasons we started the center,” Sullivan added.

Kiwi patients will be treated for up to three months before being returned to the wild.

Sullivan says the hospital is important to keep the kiwi population healthy.

The Department of Conservation technical adviser said the population growth is a result of successful predator management, “but without sustained effort, brown kiwi could easily slide back into a threatened status.”