Rangers search for roving rowi kiwi Aroha

24 Sep 2019

1:01 pm on 24 September 2019 

Department of Conservation (DOC) rangers are searching for a kiwi that is ranging far and wide.

Aroha, a rowi kiwi which needed to be rescued from snowy, mountainous terrain on the West Coast last month, has travelled 5km since being re-released.

Rowi are the rarest of the five kiwi species, with a population of only 600.

DOC reintroduced 34 of the birds to the Omoeroa ranges in December 2018, after breeding in the 2000s brought numbers back from just 160 birds in Okarito Forest.

Senior ranger Tracey Dearlove said the kiwi were wearing transmitters, but rangers were still trying to locate her for monitoring and health checks.

She said rowi kiwi going on long adventures is not uncommon, and another - Taonga - had travelled 10km towards the coastal mouth of Waikukupa River.

She said motorists should be aware the rare birds could be around State Highway 6 near the Fox Glacier township.

The population seemed to be thriving, with all but one of the birds still alive.

"Health checks of a number of the birds show that they are gaining weight and are in excellent health, with glossy feathers and very few parasites," Ms Dearlove said.

"We are really excited that the new population is thriving in this area with plenty of food and space to establish territories."

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Meet Eggnog, the rare kiwi chick who hatched on Christmas Day

There are just 450 rowi kiwis left in the wild.

December 28 2017

A rare rowi kiwi hatched on Christmas Day, earning the name Eggnog.

Eggnog was born at the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Joseph, on New Zealand’s South Island.

Eggnog the rowi kiwi (Nicki van Wyk/West Coast Wildlife Centre/PA)

According to the park, rowi are the rarest kiwi species in the world, with just 450 birds left alive in the wild, but this was the 50th rowi kiwi to hatch at the centre this season, and the 278th since it opened in 2010.

It took Eggnog five whole days to crack its way out of its shell, after 77 days of incubation.

Mind-bogglingly, West Coast Wildlife Centre staff will not be able to tell Eggnog’s gender for another year, as male and female kiwis look the same for that period.

Rowis are also known as Okarito kiwis because they are native to the Okarito forest on New Zealand’s South Island. Their eggs have had to be removed from the forest due to their vulnerability to stoats introduced to the area by humans.

The park says it hatches the eggs and then transfers the birds to predator-free islands before releasing them back into Okarito forest once they are less vulnerable.

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