The Motu Kiwi Kohanga was built and planted by the community in 2006 and now contains a native forest full of worms, crickets, spiders and weta which young kiwi thrive on.
Kiwi chicks stay within this protected site for about three months until they reach one kilogram in weight, when they are released back into the Whinray Reserve, says Ecoworks NZ manager and Whinray trustee, Steve Sawyer.
“As they mature they will move further afield which is generally north into the Raukumara Forest Park.
“This is one of the reasons why the protection of Raukumara Forest is so important. It protects one of our rare taonga species which are migrating north into Raukumara.”
Thousands of kiwi eggs and chicks are killed in the New Zealand bush each year due to predators — pigs, stoats, cats and ferrets. The Whinray Kiwi Trust works with the Kiwis For Kiwi Trust and the Department of Conservation to control pests over an 1800 hectare area to protect about 30 pairs of kiwi.
“The trust has a number of adult kiwi radio-tagged at Motu and each year first clutch eggs are removed and taken to Rainbow and Fairy Springs for incubation,” Mr Sawyer said.
“The whole process means the chicks have a 95 percent chance of hatching and making it to adult size.
“Most kiwi chicks outside of trapped areas have a less than 5 percent chance of making it to adulthood. Eighteen out of every 20 chicks are killed by stoats each year.”
A second kiwi chick is due back to Motu this weekend, while another two eggs are due to hatch over the next three weeks.
