Kiwi returns after repairs
Mahuru returns to Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary
Kiwi have returned to the grounds of Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle struck in February. Last Thursday saw the release of Mahuru as part of Save the Kiwi’s kiwi creche programme, which releases young kiwi into predator-proof surroundings until they can grow heavy enough to fend for themselves in the wild.
Mahuru’s name means September in te reo Māori, named for when its egg was uplifted from Taranaki.
The chick - whose sex will not be known until it is older - will be released back into the area it was taken from once it is at least 1kg in weight.
When kiwi meet this threshold, they are heavy enough to defend themselves against many introduced mammals like stoats, which are among their biggest threats in the wild.
After seven months, kiwi were able to return to the sanctuary after extensive efforts to ensure their safety there.
The Wairakei area of Taupō was the hardest hit in the local area during Cyclone Gabrielle.
Huge numbers of trees, largely pine plantation, were toppled or heavily damaged in the high winds, with around 1800 lost at Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary alone.
Around 200m to 300m of the 5.5km predator-proof fence around the sanctuary was toppled due to fallen trees.
The fencing is used in sanctuaries as it has been specially designed to prevent mammals, from rats to cats, from passing through, under or over it.
Even a small area of damage can quickly let in pests including possums, stoats and weasels, so the site was considered unsafe for kiwi until the fence could be repaired.
At the time of the cyclone, there were 12 young kiwi on site; the sanctuary has a Department of Conservation licence to house up to 16 at once.
There were also hatched and unhatched chicks inside the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow (then the Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow).
Three large pine trees had fallen on to the building, but thanks to a shipping container kept behind the building taking most of the hit, the burrow and its eggs and chicks were safe.
Once it was established that all the kiwi chicks in both the creche and burrow were safe and well, the whole team felt huge relief, said Warren Collett, general manager of operations at Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary.
“Our 35 staff all take a keen interest in what’s going on. In particular, we were so thrilled that we never lost any animals as a result.”
Happily, this also included the sanctuary’s population of deer and endangered takahē.
Both the burrow and Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary teams sprang into action after the cyclone, uplifting the kiwi in the creche as quickly as possible.
Luckily, many were at their target weight, or very close to it, so their release into the wild went ahead a bit quicker than initially planned.
The others were removed to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, another Save the Kiwi creche site.
This proved to be a sensible move, said McCormick; a couple of months later, the extensive measures set up to detect predators returned evidence of stoats and weasels.
“That confirmed that we’d done the right thing by moving them out and taking that cautious approach.”
Once the fence was repaired and traps and cameras stopped showing evidence of predators, a trained mustelid-detecting dog was brought in on several occasions.
The dog was trained to be highly sensitive to the scent of members of the mustelid family, which includes weasels and stoats.
Once the dog gave the all-clear, it was a green light to begin kiwi releases again.
There are now five more releases planned over the next month.
The post-cyclone efforts, like the wider work at the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow and Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary, were a testament to how well the two organisations worked together, said McCormick.
As for Mahuru, the release notes state it was “very cross, kicking, growling and biting” when being handled into a carrier.
This might not sound like a fairytale release, said McCormick, but she was thrilled to be nipped by the feisty chick.
“They don’t really tame down because we handle them as little as possible, we don’t want them to get used to being handled.
“A chick like this that growls and bites is great, because it means it has a better chance out in the wild.”