Carter Launches New Report on the Status of the Kiwi

A new report detailing the status of New Zealand's national bird, the kiwi, was launched today by Conservation Minister Chris Carter.

The report highlights a huge increase in private kiwi conservation efforts around New Zealand, and was launched at Auckland Zoo to mark the end of Bank of New Zealand managing director Peter Thodey's chairmanship of the Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust.

"This report shows there are now more than 60 private, individual, iwi and community-led kiwi conservation projects in New Zealand, most of which have formed in the last five years," Mr Carter said.

"These non-government initiatives have lifted the area of kiwi habitat under conservation management by about 50,000 ha, complementing the 70,000 ha now under active management by the Department of Conservation (DOC).

"Assisting growth in community involvement has been the Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust, which now contributes 15 per cent of total funding spent on kiwi conservation in New Zealand," Mr Carter said.

"I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Peter Thodey for his chairmanship of the Trust, and his contribution to kiwi conservation."

Mr Carter said the new status report showed that where kiwi habitat was managed and pests and predators controlled, the kiwi was doing well. As a result, goals for kiwi recovery were becoming more ambitious.

"We've seen particular success in the North Island, where the kiwi sanctuaries established by the Labour-Progressive government in 2000, have had a considerable impact. Inside the three North Island sanctuaries, the kiwi chick survival rates have increased seven times.

"DOC has also developed a way of reducing the frequency of stoat trap checks, freeing up resources to gradually expand the amount of kiwi habitat being managed.

"In the last 10 years intensively-managed populations of kiwi have been established by private groups and/or DOC at several sites where they were locally extinct - Maungatautari, Pukaha/Mt Bruce, Rimutaka Forest Park, Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, and Rotoiti," Mr Carter said.

"The Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi's Operation Nest Egg has also proved highly successful. The programme takes kiwi eggs or chicks from the wild, raises them in captivity for around six months and returns them to the wild at a point where they are able to defend themselves from stoats.

"More than 120 kiwi chicks are raised in this way each year by several zoos and wildlife parks around the country," Mr Carter said.

"But despite this progress, we still have a great deal of work to do on kiwi. In areas where kiwi are not managed they are continuing to decline, and we still face real challenges in the South Island where the Okarito brown kiwi (rowi) and Haast tokoeka kiwi are consistently being hit by rat and stoat plagues, despite conservation efforts.

"DOC can't tackle these issues alone, it needs community and private sector help. The massive growth in community kiwi conservation demonstrates that New Zealanders are starting to recognise this," Mr Carter said.

The status report will be available from 9 March on www.doc.govt.nz.

ENDS

© Scoop Media