Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua's newest kiwi named after Dr Ashley Bloomfield

Rotorua Daily Post
1 Oct, 2020 11:40 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Newly hatched kiwi chick Bloom has been named after director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Photo / Getty Images/Supplied

Newly hatched kiwi chick Bloom has been named after director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Photo / Getty Images/Supplied

The first chick of the season at Rotorua's National Kiwi Hatchery has been named after a man who has spent much of 2020 in the spotlight.

Newly hatched kiwi chick Bloom is a tribute to director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and has arrived in time to celebrate the start of Save Kiwi Month.

Bloom hatched on Tuesday, September 29, weighing in at 353 grams and has a unique white marking above her eyebrow. Save Kiwi Month is held annually in October.

National Kiwi Hatchery manager tumu kaitiaki kiwi Emma Bean said: "It's rare to have a kiwi with such a large white patch like this. The last significantly white-feathered chick hatched in 2017."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Save Kiwi Month is a Kiwis for kiwi initiative with the goal being to raise funds to help safeguard kiwi populations and ensure these taonga are here for generations to come.

The National Kiwi Hatchery reopened to manuhiri (visitors) late last month in time for the school holidays, with adjusted opening times and discounted entry. The Ngāi Tahu Tourism-owned hatchery had been closed to visitors since the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.

All money from hatchery tour ticket sales goes back to fund the hatchery's work.

Newly born kiwi Bloom has a unique white marking. Photo / Supplied
Newly born kiwi Bloom has a unique white marking. Photo / Supplied

Visitors to the hatchery may get a glimpse of Bloom on the daily 10am tour as the birds will have their daily weigh-in and health check at that time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The National Kiwi Hatchery is the largest kiwi hatchery in Aotearoa, having hatched more than 2000 chicks since 1995.

Team members are leaders in kiwi husbandry, egg incubation systems, hatching techniques and kiwi chick-rearing, and visitors can learn all about this on a guided tour.

Each year the team incubates and hatches more than 100 kiwi chicks with 125 hatched last year.

Only six of those chicks would have survived if they had been left in the wild. Last season 72 per cent of all brown kiwi hatched ex-situ nationwide came from the hatchery.

Discover more

Chasing the big one! Anglers reunite for season opening

30 Sep 12:21 AM

Rotorua attraction gets Māori All Black boost

28 Sep 08:35 PM

Kereru returns to birthplace after 24 years

27 Sep 09:15 PM

New kiwi chick raises eyebrows, needs a name

23 Sep 05:52 PM

The hatchery is located at the Rainbow Springs Nature Park complex, however only the hatchery is reopening. Rainbow Springs does not yet have a reopening date.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

08 Jul 10:50 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP