The Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust has returned its 100th kiwi chick to the inland Hawke's Bay forest from where its egg was taken.
The male bird, named Bocky after well-known local bushman Allan Bockman, was incubated at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua and reared in a predator-free area at Cape Sanctuary.
The Maungataniwha Kiwi Project is part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg and has made a name for itself as one of the most prolific and successful kiwi conservation initiatives in the country. Since its inception in 2006 it has harvested 300 eggs and seen 163 chicks released back into the wild.
This 54 per cent survival rate contrasts starkly with the 5 per cent chance that kiwi have of making it to adulthood if their eggs are left in the bush unprotected against predators.
Population modelling suggests about 200 kiwi would need to be released back into Maungataniwha to make the population there secure for the next 30 years.