Kiwi arrival on Tuhua fulfils dream

By Carly Udy
It was what Conservation Minister Chris Carter called an "impossible dream".
But last night seven kiwi foraged in bush on Mayor Island - shadowed by a majestic pohutukawa canopy - for the first time in the island's history.
Their arrival at the secluded island off the coast of Tauranga has the potential to change the population and survival of kiwi not only in the Bay of Plenty, where kiwi numbers are at their lowest, but in the East Coast and Hawke's Bay. There is enough room on the island - Tuhua, as it is known by Maori - for up to 400 kiwi or 200 breeding pairs.
The decline of the North Island brown kiwi is estimated at a rate of 5-10 per cent a year.
The four male and three female kiwi were yesterday flown by helicopter to Tuhua, where they were formally gifted to the island in a moving ceremony by Eastern Bay of Plenty hapu Upokorehe, facilitated by the Department of Conservation (DoC).
Kiwi numbers are so low in the Western Bay that it took 18 months of searching, planning and facilitating to see some sourced from a pine forest owned by Kiwi Forestry Group near Kererutahi in the Eastern Bay.
The forest is due to be felled. Kiwi in this forest are at such low numbers that yesterday's move was effectively removing the entire population of kiwi from the site.
Tuhua was due to only get six kiwi but, when DoC staff went to collect them on Monday night, they found an extra female. They have been named by Upukorehe hapu - Ataahua, Kokiri, Matariki, Pokaikaha, Morehu, Tumanako and the seventh is to be named by Tuhua Trust Board.
There is an understanding that chicks bred on Tuhua may be returned to the mainland when a safe environment becomes available.
Conservation minister Chris Carter yesterday said the arrival was the realisation of what once was "an impossible dream".
"I think this is a really exciting day and a very good day for conservation."
Over the past six years the Tuhua Trust Board, owners and administrators of the island, have worked with DoC to rid their island of pests and re-introduce native wildlife once on the island.
Kiwi were never on the island but Tuhua's pest-free status has allowed for the bird to be part of that new beginning.
In 2003 the owners established a Nga Whenua Rahui covenant over Tuhua to strengthen the gazetted Wildlife Management Refuge status already in place.
Magda Williams, chairperson of the Tuhua Trust Board, said yesterday's Kererutahi-Tuhua transfer had been "awesome" to be part of and she said it was fantastic both hapu had been able to come together to join bonds for the special moment.
DoC's project manager for the kiwi transfer Dave Wills said yesterday's translocation was "a big relief".
"It's been an awful lot of work and I've done an awful lot of hours. Tuhua can provide a safe environment for many threatened species. We can all do our bit to help the kiwi and Tuhua recovery by respecting the quarantine regulations when we visit Tuhua and reporting kiwi sightings," he said.