Watch: Napier’s little-known kiwi creche and the 60 fluffy chicks that play there

It is barely known to the public, but Napier is home to its very own kiwi creche helping bolster the population of our native bird.

The exact location remains top secret to protect the nearly 60 fluffy chicks raised at Napier Kiwi Creche each year.

Hawke’s Bay Today toured the facility on the eve of Save the Kiwi Week, which runs from October 14-20, to learn more about the conservation work at the creche, which has been housing chicks since 2020.

Charitable trust Save The Kiwi operates the predator-free facility, which cares for kiwi for most months of the year, with the season starting in October.

Kiwi keeper Miriam Strachan said “we pinch ourselves sometimes” being involved in the conservation work.

She said the chance of kiwi reaching adulthood— about age 3 — rose significantly if raised in a creche compared with being hatched in the wild.

“They have got a 65% chance compared to a 7% chance to make it to adulthood, so that makes me feel very jolly,” she said. “It is very rewarding.”

The first two chicks of the season arrived at the creche this month — Koha and Patchell — something Strachan said felt “like Christmas”.

North Island brown kiwi eggs are lifted from the Maungataniwha Native Forest in Hawke’s Bay and hatched at Taupō’s Gallagher Kiwi Burrow or Rotorua’s National Kiwi Hatchery.

New-arrival kiwi chick Koha during a weekly health check at Napier Kiwi Creche. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

Inside Napier Kiwi Creche, which has 24 specially designed pens. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

The chicks then arrive at the creche about 2 weeks old and stay for more than three months, until they reach 1kg body weight and can defend themselves from predators. At that point, they go back to Maungataniwha Forest.

The kiwi population is estimated to be 70,000 nationwide and conservationists want to see that figure rise 2% each year.

Napier Kiwi Creche manager Bev Wilkinson said conservation work, like the creche, was helping the population increase — which was fantastic given it declined significantly last century.

“That is why we started the Gallagher Kiwi Borough and got the Napier Kiwi Creche going, to be able to get more eggs through facilities and chicks through creches.”

Wilkinson said Napier was chosen as the preferred location for Save The Kiwi’s creche for a couple of reasons.

“Our numbers are low down here and it is a place they could put experienced staff into.”

Most kiwi arrive weighing around 350g and stay until they reach 1kg body weight. Pictured is new arrival Koha. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

A weekly health check of one of the kiwi. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

Construction started in 2016 and the facility took its first kiwi in 2020. The creche boasts 24 pens where kiwi spend their initial months of life.

“We normally start getting our kiwi at the end of September or early October, and they come in dribs and drabs and we fill up really quickly,” Wilkinson said.

“At the Napier Kiwi Creche we can hold 30 kiwi at a time and over a season we can hold 60 kiwi.”

More than 200 kiwi have passed through the creche and been released back into the wild in Hawke’s Bay.

In regard to Save the Kiwi Week, Wilkinson said a great thing dog owners could do was look up a kiwi avoidance training session (on the Kiwi Avoidance Training website) and book their dog in, particularly if they intended to take their dog near bush or the beach.

Napier Kiwi Creche is not the only creche operating in Hawke’s Bay, which also boasts the likes of ECOED Kiwi Creche at Lake Opouahi.

There are also plenty of other conservation projects helping kiwi throughout the region.

There are five species of kiwi. The North Island brown kiwi is the only species found in the North Island and they can live to be 50.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.