TSB Safely Delivers 100 Kiwi Eggs To Save The Kiwi Sanctuaries Around Aotearoa

TSB is super egg-cited to celebrate an egg-ceptional century this Easter, marking the safe delivery of 100 kiwi eggs to Save the Kiwi sanctuaries around Aotearoa New Zealand since August 2020.

As a key partner of Save the Kiwi, TSB provides safe transport of kiwi eggs or chicks discovered in the wild who require urgent delivery to an incubator several hours away.

TSB team members are a key part of the process, making the critical but careful trip at short notice with the precious taonga nestled in a chilly bin and buckled into the back seat of the TSB jeep.

TSB GM Product and Marketing, Joe Bishop says as sure as eggs are eggs, TSB is committed to supporting kiwi conservation across the motu.

“As a 100% New Zealand bank owned by a philanthropic trust, TSB’s all about giving back. Our partnership with Save the Kiwi allows both our organisation, and our passionate TSB people, to do just that in communities throughout Aotearoa.”

Since the partnership hatched in August 2020, 72 TSB team members have volunteered and of these 45 have safely transported precious kiwi eggs from Taranaki and Coromandel to the Save the Kiwi incubation facilities in Taupō and Wairarapa, while they have also moved 20 kiwi chicks from Taupō to Napier and Taranaki.

“When you think about the fact that in just one week approximately 20 kiwi are killed by predators in the wild, TSB is incredibly proud to be – quite literally - supporting the Save the Kiwi vision of ‘taking kiwi from endangered to everywhere’.

“Some might even say the TSB Kiwi egg delivery team is like an Uber for kiwi eggs and chicks!” says Joe.

Save the Kiwi executive director Michelle Impey says this partnership with TSB exemplifies how, when all New Zealanders work together, we can all make a real difference to the future of kiwi.

“95% of eggs that hatch in areas where there’s no predator control will never reach adulthood,” says Impey. “This is a really confronting statistic, especially to people who had no idea the kiwi was at such risk.

“A huge amount of work goes into saving the kiwi, from trapping introduced pests like stoats, to collecting eggs in the wild and relocating them to incubation facilities where they can hatch safely and be given the best start at life. TSB’s involvement is a really tangible way to support our vision to rebuild kiwi populations all over Aotearoa.”

TSB team members are incredibly passionate about supporting the conservation mahi by Save the Kiwi. Recently the TSB whānau were eggs-tremely fortunate to have an opportunity to name a kiwi chick. Following a hugely popular internal competition, the name Hūmārire was chosen. Nominator Gloriana from TSB’s Regulatory Compliance team explained “Hūmārire like most Māori words means many things including peacefulness, good nature, geniality, beauty, handsomeness and peace. All of which are words that come to mind when I think of our beautiful little kiwis.” Later this year a kiwi chick will be named Hūmārire and released into a Save the Kiwi kōhanga site.

And while we don’t want to ‘count our kiwi before they hatch’, the 100 kiwi eggs that have been transported by TSB have produced 92 chicks. These chicks have gone on to be released into predator-free sanctuaries like Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari or kiwi-safe habitat, boosting the kiwi population.

Kiwi have only a 5% chance of survival if the eggs hatch in areas where there is no predator control, so the TSB and Save the Kiwi partnership is making a genuine difference to future generations of this unique and special icon.

© Scoop Media