By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE
Honey, the hand-reared kiwi chick attacked by a stoat after only two weeks in the wild, is well on the road to recovery.
Apart from a big scab on her "gruesome bald neck", she is a different bird from the bedraggled creature brought back to Rainbow Springs in
Rotorua a fortnight ago, Kiwi House staff member Claire Travers said yesterday. "The miracle is that she's still alive."
It was touch and go for a few days as the four-month-old fought for survival.
She was tube-fed and dosed heavily with antibiotics. But now Honey is eating by herself and regaining weight.
'She is nowhere near the bouncing bird she was [when released into the Kaweka Ranges on January 6]," said Ms Travers.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she remains more timid."
The once-feisty little kiwi seems to accept her treatment, which includes having an anti-bacterial honey cream applied to her neck, without struggle.
Ms Travers said the wound would have to be well-healed before Honey was released "into the wide world" again.
In the wild, 95 per cent of kiwi die before they are six months old, many the victims of predatory stoats, ferrets, cats, rats, pigs and dogs.
Honey's recovery is not the only good news at the Rotorua Kiwi House.
In the past week, three kiwi chicks have hatched under Operation Nest Egg, the Department of Conservation's save-the-kiwi programme.
Two will eventually be sent to the Tongariro area, from where the eggs came, and the third is the first hatching from Thames.
