Youngsters' full-baked idea to aid kiwi

Oliver Liddell and zookeeper Andrew Nelson with a kiwi chick on Moturoa Island. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Oliver Liddell was sure he had heard a kiwi.

When conservation rangers explained it was probably a weka whose screeching call he'd heardone night in Papakura, he and his classmates started talking.

"They started to say, 'What a shame it isn't a kiwi. Why isn't it a kiwi?'," said Orere School principal Pamela Banks.

"We found out kiwi were extinct in our area so we thought about how we could help kiwi," said Oliver.

Two years and dozens of kiwi-shaped biscuits later, the children have given $1000 to Auckland Zoo's kiwi breeding programme - enough for an egg incubator and a torch to track the development of eggs.

Yesterday, 16 children from the school, including 10-year-old Oliver, were ferried across to see kiwi chick Tangiharuru released on Moturoa Island as a thank you gesture.

A chick released on the Hauraki Gulf island sanctuary last week was named Orere in the school's honour.

Ms Banks said they raised the money by selling Anzac biscuits iced with pictures of kiwi, greeting cards and face-painting. Local firefighters and former pupils also helped.