Two of our most recent kiwi adventures ended up having quite different endings with one group finding a ‘bonus’ kiwi and the other, a kiwi so well burrowed there was no hope of reaching him.
We’ll start with the successful trip. Deb, Kahori (DOC) and Kahori’s kiwi conservation dog Nagi set out to find Carrot, one of the few female birds we monitor, to get her transmitter changed. Carrot is a known runner however it was their lucky day as they found her in a hole. She’s doing well and a whopping 3kg in weight. On their way back out, Nagi indicated another hole and the team found another kiwi. It hadn’t been microchipped so wasn’t one that had been through the creche – they had found a wild-born kiwi! This is a very encouraging sign that our trapping efforts are making a difference and giving wild kiwi a better chance of surviving to adulthood. The kiwi looked relatively young – about two and a half years old. Deb and Kahori put a transmitter on it and the feathers will be sent away for DNA testing to determine the gender. Let’s hope it’s a male! Deb and Kahori named the kiwi Nagi, in honour of the hero of this story.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well for Robyn and her team who were on a mission to find Blew and change his transmitter. When they located Blew, he was in a massive tunnel and it was impossible to break through anywhere. Robyn estimated the entrance was up a watercourse bank and a good six metres (and six feet lower) from where he actually was. In the picture below, Robyn is pretty sure she’s sitting right on top of him – she can almost hear him laughing at her!
Hopefully Blew has moved to a far more accessible location when they try again.
Story by Aimee van der Weyden.
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