Ranger Nina Mercer gets the privilege of helping to transport three very special passengers to their new home at Rangataua Forest near Mount Ruapehu.
Continue Reading...Archives For Brown kiwi
Today’s photo shows one of the Coromandel brown kiwi relocated to predator-free Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf last week.
It was the biggest ever single translocation of Coromandel brown kiwi and was done to create new diversity and future-proof the species.
Did you know?
- There are only around 1,500 Coromandel brown kiwi on the Coromandel Peninsula.
There are 5 kiwi species:
- Little spotted kiwi on several offshore islands and at Karori Sanctuary in Wellington
- Great spotted kiwi/roroa in the northern South Island
- Brown kiwi in the North Island
- Rowi at Okarito, on the West Coast of the South Island
- Tokoeka in the South Island (Fiordland, the Haast Range and on Stewart Island) and on Kapiti Island.
2 of the 5 kiwi species have distinct geographical varieties within them:
- Brown kiwi have four geographically and genetically distinct forms: Northland, Coromandel, western and eastern.
- Tokoeka also have four distinct geographical forms: Haast, northern Fiordland, southern Fiordland, and Stewart Island.
By Cherry Beaver, Trustee, Puketi Forest Trust
The Department of Conservation recently organised a kiwi aversion training day at Puketi Forest in the Bay of Islands. The training course was well supported with over 60 dogs and their owners attending ― luckily for the trainers not all at once!
Over 60 dogs attended kiwi aversion training at Puketi Forest, including Nichol
The training days are a really important lesson for any dog that is likely to encounter a kiwi. It is an important tool in teaching dogs that kiwi are something they should stay away from.
As part of the training three model kiwis are placed along a small bush track. The dog wears a collar and receives a mild electric shock when they pass and sniff the kiwi. Generally they only need one shock and they learn to avoid the next bird.
Nichol in the bush during his kiwi aversion training
I took my dog Nichol, and I was amazed at how fast the process worked and how the dogs learn to avoid the kiwi so quickly.
The training is not foolproof and it is recommended that dogs complete the training each year, but many kiwi could be saved if all dogs went through this simple and effective training.
North Island brown kiwi
Related links: