Rainbow Springs’ Kiwi Encounter about to reach milestone

Rainbow Springs’ Kiwi Encounter about to reach milestone in kiwi conservation

Rotorua: 17 December 2015: New Zealand's largest hatchery of brown kiwi is poised to reach a milestone in kiwi conservation.

Rainbow Springs' Kiwi Encounter is about to welcome its 1,500th chick, a milestone in its crucial role in kiwi conservation and breeding. There are currently 13 eggs in incubation with the 1,500th egg estimated to hatch in late December - just another 4 to go.

The latest arrival hatched today at 3.30pm. The chick is from Maungataniwha in the northern Hawke's Bay and its dad is Quake, the chick has yet to be named.

Kiwi Encounter Husbandry Manager Claire Travers says that her job is the best in the world. "I've been helping hatch kiwi chicks for 16 years and I'm still thrilled everytime a precious one hatches. I work with an amazing team who are all devoted to doing their part for kiwi conservation, we are all very proud of what we do."

For Claire highlights over the years have been many, including the arrival of other milestone chicks, the 500th and 1,000th. "Chicks that hatch with an unexpected splash of white on their usual brown feathers always surprise me, like Fatboy, our kiwi from the Coromandel and Knicker Bockers, who both had patches of white at the top of their very pink legs.

"Occasionally we need to assist a malpositioned chick and that is always rewarding, especially helping chicks that we thought weren't going to make it."

Rainbow Springs’ Kiwi Encounter's role in kiwi conservation is vital. Most kiwi chicks don't survive in the wild due to predators such as stoats, so DOC (Department of Conservation) staff lift the partially incubated eggs from their burrows and deliver them to Kiwi Encounter to incubate and hatch. Kiwi eggs take approximately 78 days to incubate in artificial conditions, and slightly longer in the wild.

After hatching, the team raises the chicks to a ‘stoat-proof’ weight of 1kg before releasing them back into the wild.

Kiwi Encounter also plays an important part in helping with kiwi research. The team is currently looking into making improvements to the artificial kiwi diet, lighting in nocturnal enclosures, the role of bacteria in egg shell contamination and coccidia (gut parasites) treatment trials.

Kiwi Encounter offers unique behind-the-scenes tours of a working kiwi nursery and hatchery, and ticket purchases for the tour are donated to help fund Kiwi Enounter's work.

Kiwi Encounter's kiwi conservation work is funded by Rainbow Springs, its owner Ng?i Tahu Tourism, sponsorship and public donations.

To donate, or sponsor a kiwi, visit http://www.rainbowsprings.co.nz/donate

ENDS

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