A successful project to save New Zealand's
rarest kiwi species-the rowi-from extinction, has enabled New Zealand's
Department of Conservation (DOC) to return another 9 young birds to Ōkārito
forest.
One of New Zealand's species recovery success stories, the rowi has been brought back from a population low of fewer than 200 birds in 1998 to nearly 400 birds today.
"The doubling of the population has been thanks to a blend of old-fashioned hard work and new techniques and technology-including a ground-breaking aerial tracking system called Sky Ranger." says Cornelia Vervoorn, community relations ranger with DOC.
Stoat problem
"If these birds had been left in the wild, there is a 95% chance that they would have been killed by stoats soon after hatching. However, as part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg, DOC rangers rescued the eggs before they hatched and took them to the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Josef. They were incubated and hatched in the centre's husbandry unit before being taken to predator-free Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Now that the chicks have grown up and are strong enough to repel stoat attacks, they are completing their journey and being released back into the Ōkārito Kiwi Sanctuary."
"If these birds had been left in the wild, there is a 95% chance that they would have been killed by stoats soon after hatching. However, as part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg, DOC rangers rescued the eggs before they hatched and took them to the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Josef. They were incubated and hatched in the centre's husbandry unit before being taken to predator-free Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Now that the chicks have grown up and are strong enough to repel stoat attacks, they are completing their journey and being released back into the Ōkārito Kiwi Sanctuary."
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