A second Haast tokoeka kiwi chick has hatched at the Kiwi and Birdlife park in Queenstown.
Nicknamed Wilson, the tiny chick is still at a very delicate stage, operations wildlife manager Matt Wong says.
The team of four who had been watching the egg were all there for the birth. "None ofus wanted to miss it - it's such a rare and amazing event to see a kiwi hatch."
When birth seemed imminent, the person on kiwiwatch called the other three, he said. It was very tough for a kiwi chick to break out of the egg.
"First there's a long hairline crack then little thumps as the chick kicks from the inside to break out.
"Suddenly the egg splits and the chick, all wet, slides out."
For the first two days, Wilson stayed in a special incubator run at a controlled 30C in a dark room.
"He needed to dry out completely and rest. It's been a tough time for the little chap.
"From beginning to end it takes around 70 to 80 days for a kiwi egg to hatch so it's been a long, pretty nerve-racking process for us all here," Mr Wong said.
Early last month Department of Conservation rangers had lifted the egg in the remote outer edge of the Haast Tokoeka Sanctuary and used life-support techniques developed through the Kiwi Recovery programme to deliver it to the incubation unit at the Queenstown park.
"We've reached another milestone here and it feels great," Mr Wong said.
In about a week the new chick will be released inside the predator fence at Burwood Reserve in Te Anau.
