By Ligs Hoffman, Ellen Fitzsimons and Bev Bacon from DOC’s Web/Intranet Teams.

‘Bel’ the injured kiwi

So how do three desk bound National Office staff come to have a live kiwi in their boot?

Ligs, Ellen and Bev were in Whanganui to meet with DOC staff about all things web/intranet. We had a great day with our colleagues who do the front line “real” DOC work and we were packing up ready to head back to Wellington when we heard the call “Anyone going to Wellington or Palmerston North?”

A ranger had arrived at the office with an injured kiwi. It had an injured toe, was dehydrated and needed treatment at Wildbase Hospital, Massey University. We were perhaps a little overexcited at being this close to a real kiwi and enthusiastically accepted the challenge.

With the frontline staff looking slightly bemused we leapt around like giddy schoolgirls as they made sure the kiwi was sitting comfortably in her box, on a soft bed of ferns. Her box was secured among our luggage in the back of the car. Having tweeted and Facebooked our friends we then set off.

Transport box for the injured kiwi

On the way we decided the kiwi should be named Bel for Bev, Ellen and Ligs, an appropriate name as it turned out as she’s a girl.

The expert staff at Wildbase Hospital tend to the kiwi

Despite the vets telling us we could leave at anytime, we wanted to watch how the treatment went and see her safely into her bed that night. We were fascinated to see the four staff administering antibiotics and fluids, and cleaning and bandaging up her sore toe. We learnt a lot as they explained what they were doing and why. We now know that you can tell the sex of a kiwi from the length of its beak – girls have a longer one.

Checking out ‘Bel’s’ injured toe

Our part in the recovery of this kiwi was minor but made us feel proud and privileged to work for the Department of Conservation. We are thankful for organisations like Wildbase who partner with us to protect our native species.

The sore foot up close