Kaitake kiwi colony ‘great success’
Eight kiwi have been set free into bush in the Kaitake Range in Taranaki, joining 10 released for the first time last year and that are now thriving and breeding.
The new arrivals, released today, will provide more genetic diversity for a new colony that is developing, Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust chairperson Peter Morgan said.
Two more kiwi will join them this season, an exciting development for an area where no evidence of wild kiwi living had been found ‘‘for a very long time’’, he said.
Intensive predator control by the trust has made it possible for the birds to be reintroduced, and more kiwi will be progressively released over the next few years.
So far, eight trust members have been trained to monitor the birds, so they can follow their progress, and there have been more volunteers joining the 100strong group, which manages 750 traps for rats, ferrets and stoats in the area.
The 10 birds translocated last year had all paired up and three pairs had successfully hatched chicks, Morgan said. ‘‘We didn’t know how it would go with having that first release, so it’s fantastic, to have all of these birds all paired up; it’s a great success.’’
This is the third year that birds bred in the Taranaki Kohanga Kiwi At Rotokare, a partnership between the Taranaki Kiwi Trust (TKT) and the Rotokare Reserve Trust, near Eltham, have been released in areas made safe by pest control.
Thirty-four birds are being moved to new homes this month, on Taranaki maunga, at Kaitake and at the Totara Block, a private property at Mangamingi.
The translocations are made possible by hundreds of volunteers from the three trusts working alongside staff from the Taranaki Mounga Project, Department of Conservation and others including students and hapū members.
‘‘Trapping is the lynchpin of allowing the releases to happen,’’ TKT manager Celine Filbee said.
Running the operation with Covid rampant in the region has added another twist to the already pressured operation but, fortunately, the trust has a pool of accredited kiwi handlers, so people have been found to replace those who have to isolate, she said.
Rotokare conservation manager Fiona Gordon said she had noticed different people joining as volunteers since Covid started.
‘‘It could be due to changing work circumstances and some people have re-evaluated what’s important in life, such as community and time in the natural world, others love Rotokare and have come to help just because they love the place.’’