Meet Bertrand, the swimming kiwi

Bertrand the kiwi can’t fly, but she can swim.

Until a few weeks ago Bertrand, along with 4000 friends of the flightless variety, had been happily living on a 13,000 hectare property bordering the Waitara River, as part of East Taranaki Environment Trust’s (ETET) Purangi Kiwi Project.

That was until she made the voyage across the river, a journey none of the other kiwi had decided to try.

‘‘She swam,’’ project chairperson Karen Schumacher said.

‘‘There’s no bridge, no logs, but she’s definitely on the other side of the river.’’

The ETET Purangi Kiwi Project aims to enhance the kiwi population through pest management and each bird in its care is fitted with a transmitter so staff can track them and check on their health, Schumacher said.

She said Bertrand, who’s not even a year old yet, was absolutely fine when staff discovered her on the other side of the river; and she was now regularly making the commute back and forth into deeper parts of the project’s land. ‘‘She was in good condition; she’s growing well. She’s about to disperse but we didn’t anticipate her dispersing across the river.’’

Schumacher said staff members went back and checked this week and a couple of days ago Bertrand had gone marching.

‘‘She’s what they call dispersing, so she’s heading off into the next lot of bush.

‘‘It’s normal for them to spread out as they grow up but it’s the first time we’ve known of one that’s swam across the river.’’ The Waitara River is no obstacle for Bertrand the kiwi.