‘Surprising discovery’: First Kiwi egg laid in the wild in Wellington

A North Island Brown Kiwi Chick. Photo / Daren Grover

Conservationists have discovered a North Island brown kiwi egg has been laid in the wild, just two months after eleven birds were released into the southwest of Wellington.

Capital Kiwi project lead Paul Ward said it was a surprising find during the first health check of the kiwis since they were released.

Ward said one of his colleagues was feeling around in a dark burrow in a macrocarpa tree when he felt the shape of an egg.

“We were all kind of gobsmacked because it wasn’t something we were expecting to find, but it’s pretty exciting and we’re really stoked for all the people who have supported the project.

“While we can’t count our kiwi until they hatch, it is a really significant moment for that mission to return kiwi to the wild in the west of our capital city.”

Ward said it would be another couple of months before the egg hatched.

Since the kiwi were released, Ward and his team have been tracking the birds using aerials.

“That’s just to let us know that they’re moving around and alive and kicking.”

Some of their burrows were in rugged and remote places on the hills, Ward said.

They didn’t want to handle the birds any more than was necessary, but it was good to check their weight, that they were in good condition, and happy in the hills, Ward said.

Ward said they thought the kiwi would have lost a bit of weight, which was to be expected from birds moving out of captivity and into the wild.

But almost half of them have actually put on weight, including one who has gained 400 grams.

“It’s a really good sign that there’s plenty of kai out on Wellington’s western hills for them.”

The Capital Kiwi Project has undertaken the largest community-owned stoat trap network in Aotearoa over the past four years.

About 4500 traps have been spread across 23,00 hectares, which is an area larger than Abel Tasman National Park.

Thousands of pests have been removed, paving the way for the return of Kiwi to Wellington’s backyard.

The Capital Kiwi Project is one of the first landscape-scale projects funded by Predator Free 2050 Ltd.

The project has recently received a Department of Conservation permit to allow the relocation of 250 kiwi into the landscape over the next six years.