13
Sep 2016

Tail End Charlie

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For the team at Kiwi Encounter team at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua, winter is normally spent catching up on paperwork, cleaning and preparing for the new season.

Max the kiwi had a different idea and the late egg he incubating hatched on Wednesday 27 July. The new chick, subsequently named Tail End Charlie, needed only the tiniest bit of verbal encouragement, and came into the world weighing 299 grams. A docile wee chick, he is doing very well and is just about ready to be introduced to food. Tail End Charlie rounds-off a great hatching season, bringing the total of chicks hatched this season to 102. [Read more…]

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06
Jul 2016

Hīkoi rowi ki Waikawa

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At the end of last month, members travelled to Waikawa Marae to tautoko and support the release of nine juvenile rowi chicks. The chicks were released into a new kōhanga site at the head of Picton Harbour, Kaipūpū Point Sounds Wildlife Sanctuary.

This is an exciting development in our drive to save the critically endangered rowi. The need to find a new area is due to the success of the kiwis from the ‘kiwi ONE’ programme, which has seen an increase in the number of rowi being hatched from eggs collected in Ōkārito Forest. As a result, the existing kōhanga island, Motuara can’t accommodate them all. [Read more…]

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03
Apr 2016

Tokoeka kiwi return to the wild

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Kelly Gough is a ranger at Ōrokonui Ecosanctuary. Her prime responsibility is for the juvenile kiwi held at the sanctuary.*

On Wednesday 9 December 2015, Ōrokonui staff members and the Haast Department of Conservation team met at 6am at the Ōrokonui Ecosanctuary to catch some juvenile kiwi for release on to Coal Island. This was the first official scheduled departure of kiwi from the year-old Ōrokonui kiwi crèche where they managed to produce some healthy Haast Tokoeka kiwi – a big boost to the numbers of an endangered species. [Read more…]

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13
Nov 2015

Species transfer

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In late September, Lynley McKay and I (from the rūnaka office) were privileged to accompany the Department of Conservation (DoC) staff on the translocation of four Haast Tokoeka Kiwi from their crèche island. DoC estimates there are only about 400-500 of these kiwi remaining.

The team had undertaken disease screening on the kiwi in preparation before moving the small number of last season’s chicks to a Kōhanga Island. These birds weigh between 1000 and 1500 grams, and at this weight they should be large enough to protect themselves against predators [Read more…]

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30
Oct 2015

Upcoming conservation hui

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The Omataroa Kiwi Project – Kiwis for kiwi, warmly extends an invitation to whānau, hapū and iwi to the second conservation hui to be held on 8-11 March 2016 at Tūteao Marae, Te Teko, Bay of Plenty.

This hui will be a chance to build whanaungatanga between ngā kaitiaki o te motu and to learn from and be inspired by each other. It will be a mix of kōrero, field trips and practical hands-on learning.

A wide range of kaupapa are planned for the hui including:

  • Māori cultural environmental indicators – rongoā as an indicator of ecosystem health, the revival of the tītī harvest on Moutohora, and protecting cultural materials needed to maintain marae.
  • Te Urewera Settlement and how this has changed the way conservation work is undertaken in Te Urewera.
  • Using drones to film dramatic forest canopy collapse in Northland – an inexpensive way to show people the health of forests from the air, and what needs to be done to protect the forest.
  • Using toxins to control animal pests – the whakapapa of different toxins, how they work, and the risks and benefits of each toxin.
  • Funding the mahi – lessons from successful projects and how they got established.
  • Connecting kaitiaki and their communities – how can this mahi reach more people?
  • Field trips – join kaitiaki on trips to Ōhiwa Harbour, a tuna project at Matahina Dam, and the Omataroa and Whakatāne Kiwi Projects.
  • Hauora, healing and rongoā
  • Bush craft and field skills.

Attendance is by koha. If you are interested in attending the hui please contact Morgan Cox for further information phone: 022 083 2812; or by email:[email protected]

Whānau of the Omataroa Kiwi Project.

Whānau of the Omataroa Kiwi Project.

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26
Jun 2015

Kiwi transfers

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Little spotted kiwi/kiwi pukupuku were recently returned to Dusky Sound in Fiordland for the first time in more than a century.

Twenty birds were transferred from Kāpiti Island north of Wellington to predator-free Anchor Island/Pukenui in Dusky Sound to start another population of this endangered kiwi.

The kaitiakitanga of kiwi pukupuku on Kāpiti Island by Ngāti Toa rangatira for over a century has enabled their redistribution back to Dusky Sound.

The birds were accompanied by Hohepa Potini, a representative of Ngāti Toa rangatira and were welcomed to the island by Dave Taylor of Ōraka-Aparima Rūnaka. [Read more…]

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25
Apr 2013

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae

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Ngā mate

For my father, Maurice Westmoreland Lousich whose 94th birthday would have been today (1 March). He died on 12 November, 2012 at Masterton Hospital. Dad was brought up at Arahura Pā. His mother was Iri Te Amokura Pihawai and his father, Rudolph Torlesse Lousich. Maurice and his wife, Betty (deceased), had two children – Raymond Rudolph (deceased) and myself, Lorraine Lousich. [Read more…]

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