New kiwi chick hatches at Pūkaha

The first arrival of the 2019 kiwi breeding season

Mount Bruce, Masterton: Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre is pleased to announce the successful hatching of a new kiwi. The chick is the first arrival of the 2019 breeding season and arrived healthy at 5pm on September 17th, 2019, weighing 285 grams. The newborn is the first offspring of Mapuna, a white coloured male kiwi and Manawa a brown coloured female kiwi. The newest kiwi addition is mostly brown but has a unique patch of white feathers on its head attributable to the rare recessive white feather gene that some kiwi carry.

The chick has not been formally named but is known by the moniker MB107, being the one hundred and seventh kiwi to be born in captivity at Mount Bruce under Operation Nest Egg. The small newborn will continue to live off its own yolk for the next few days before receiving its first high protein meal of ox heart strips – cut and designed to mimic worms. Its sex will remain unknown until its feathers are submitted for DNA testing in approximately four months time.

Staff will continue to monitor the health of the new kiwi and post updates on the Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre facebook page (www.facebook.com/PukahaMountBruce).

Visitors to Pūkaha may be able to view the chick and see it being fed at the Kiwi House in the coming days. Confirmation and times will be posted to facebook.

Special thanks and acknowledgement also go to Native Sparkling who are sponsoring the kiwi chick husbandry from hatch to release.

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