Wawe – the West Coast Wildlife Centre’s first rowi chick

The West Coast Wildlife Centre hatched its first rowi kiwi chick at 6 pm on Friday 26 November.

Named ‘Wawe’ (meaning ‘first, be, before’) by rowi kaitiaki (guardians) Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio, health checks by staff at the centre confirm that the chick is chatty, healthy and very alert.

Wawe will be at the West Coast Wildlife Centre until three to four weeks of age before being transferred to Motuara Island, a predator-free kiwi crèche in the Marlborough Sounds, as part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg.

New Zealand’s rarest kiwi species, rowi, is making a solid recovery thanks to a project between the Department of Conservation and the BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust.

The public can come face to face with this species and meet Canterbury earthquake survivor ‘Richter Rowi’ at the centre over the next few weeks.

ENDS

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