Community rallies to bring kiwi back home

A farming community just north of Whangarei is celebrating the return of 12 kiwi to an area now safe for the vulnerable native bird to live in.

More than 250 people joined the Tanekaha community to celebrate the return of the Northland brown kiwi and see them released onto pest controlled farmland earlier this month.

The release back into the Tanekaha Community Pest Control Area was a dream come true for the farming community after years of hard work to make the area safe for kiwi once again.

By 2012, kiwi in the area on the edge of the Hikurangi swamp had dwindled to just one pair known as Two-Toes and Binky.

Although Two-Toes and Binky were producing eggs, it wasn’t safe for them to stay as there were too many predators for kiwi chicks to survive.

In areas where stoats and other predators are not controlled, 95 per cent of kiwi chicks are killed before their first birthday.

Five viable kiwi eggs were removed from the Tanekaha area by Department of Conservation rangers and incubated by Auckland Zoo and Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre as part of the Operation Nest Egg programme.

The chicks were then placed on predator free Motuora Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

The 80 hectare island is a kiwi creche where chicks live until they reach around 1.2 kilograms when they’re strong enough to defend themselves.

They can then be taken off the island and released into predator controlled areas on the mainland.

Edwin Smith, co-ordinator of the Tanekaha CPCA, says it was heartbreaking to see kiwi eggs removed from the area because it wasn’t safe for them.

‘‘Our farming community decided it was up to us to turn this around and get our kiwi back.’’

The Tanekaha CPCA was launched in September 2012 with farmers signing an agreement with Northland Regional Council to establish a pest control programme.

After four years of community pest control the Tanekaha area is now safe, once again, for kiwi.

‘‘Two Toes and Binky have now hatched three kiwi chicks,’’ says Edwin Smith.

‘‘The chicks have been able to stay because the pest controlled area is safe for them. ‘‘

We can also welcome more kiwi.

‘‘This will boost the population and increase the genetic diversity of the kiwi bred in the area.’’