Ambitious kiwi project

An “ambitious” project to bring kiwi back to Wellington’s back yard kicked off yesterday with the laying of the first of thousands of predator traps. Capital Kiwi plans to lay 4400 traps for predators such as stoats, weasels and ferrets from Porirua south, in a bid to make the landscape safer for New Zealand’s national bird. “Capital Kiwi’s mission is to bring our national icon back to the people, back home to Wellington’s back yard,” said project lead Paul Ward.

He said laying the traps was the biggest step they could take to make it possible for kiwi to “live alongside us”.In the wild, only 4-5 per cent of kiwi chicks survive until adulthood, while in controlled areas upwards of 20 per cent do, he said.