Page 36 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

Willowbank Kiwi Breeding Program

Another wildlife adventure awaited us in Christchurch: a visit to a
zoo which includes a DOC-supported kiwi breeding facility—this

was Willowbank Wildlife Park. The facility also exhibited both
native creatures (keas (native parrot), pukekos (like our purple
gallinules) rakariri (New Zealand parakeet), white faced-herons,

enormous eels and blue ducks. The zoo section also included non-
native animals like ostriches, monkeys, and other typical zoo

denizens around the world. However, the special part of the
facility is the kiwi breeding building. We saw brown kiwis the day

we visited but they house other species as well. The building
contains a room made dark during the day so that visitors can see

the kiwis foraging in the leaf litter and carrying on their usual
nocturnal activities. That was very neat to observe. The kiwi
nostril is at the tip of the beak and they poke and prod the ground

with that appendage rather like an old gentleman planting his
walking stick ahead of him. With their hairy looking feathers and

rounded body on skinny legs, kiwi are cute birds. It is easy to see
why New Zealand adopted this fellow as their national symbol.

The breeding program works like this: nests of wild kiwi are

monitored and the huge eggs removed and brought to facilities
like Willowbank for incubation, hatching and fledging. When the
birds are large enough, they are then moved to one of the DOC

predator free islands for at least one year. There they can grow
and mature without dangers from mammalian predators. After

they are deemed to be adult, they are taken back to the areas
where their original nest was located. This practice has turned a

98% chick loss to a 98% success in reaching adulthood and
breeding potential. There are several of these facilities sanctioned

by and working with DOC to increase kiwi survival rates around

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