Andrew Irvine, 10, has a large collection of kiwi toys. He has now named a kiwi chick.
Andrew Irvine, 10, has a large collection of kiwi toys. He has now named a kiwi chick.
Palmerston North 10-year-old Andrew Irvine is a huge kiwi conservationist.
He has also won a competition to name a kiwi chick and be a part of its release into the wild.
Comvita and Save the Kiwi are working together to protect and preserve the kiwi population in Aotearoa. For theA Kiwi Connectioncompetition, Comvita called on New Zealanders to gift a name to a kiwi chick.
The chick released onto Rotoroa Island last week is called Korakora. Korakora comes from the te reo phrase korakora o te tumanako, which translates to spark of hope.
“I chose this name because every new kiwi chick is a spark of hope for the kiwi population,” Andrew says.
The Cornerstone Christian School student already sponsors a kiwi with his own pocket money and has a room full of kiwi toys.
Andrew and his father were flown up to Auckland and spent the day with Comvita and Save the Kiwi to release Korakora into the wild on Rotoroa Island, where he or she (DNA testing has not been carried out yet) will live and thrive alongside his kiwi mates.
Andrew Irvine on Rotoroa Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf with some precious cargo.
Korakora is a Coromandel brown kiwi. It is now part of an estimated 50 kiwi living on Rotoroa Island, a predator-free island sanctuary in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. Kiwi live on Rotoroa Island until they reach a “stoat-proof” weight of about 1.2kg, at which point they’ll either head to Motutapu Island or to the Coromandel Peninsula.
Save the Kiwi is one of Comvita’s Harmony Plan partners. Together they are combining their expertise to provide more than 1670 hectares of predator-free Comvita mānuka forests, so kiwi and other native flora and fauna can thrive.
Supporting Save the Kiwi is one of the ways Comvita works towards living in harmony with nature.
Comvita chief marketing officer Nigel King says the honey and bee consumer goods company’s goal is for people to live and work in harmony with nature and to leave the world in a better place.
“With young people like Andrew, the future looks bright for kiwi and biodiversity in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
