Six kiwi eggs have been flown to a warm new home ready for hatching.
The North Island brown kiwi eggs were removed from nests in forest near Wellington by volunteers from the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust and transferred to insulated containers.
They were then carefully taken as cabin luggage on an Air New Zealand flight to Rotorua where they were placed in an incubator at Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park.
Air New Zealand's Meghan Blair said it was great to be involved in helping the Rimutaka Forest Trust during Conservation Week.
"We take immense pride in providing flights for our endangered species such as takahe, kakapo and tuatara and getting them to their destinations safely and naturally these kiwi eggs are some of our most precious cargo."
The eggs are expected to hatch within the next 10 days and will be moved to a predator-free environment at Wairakei Golf Course and Sanctuary north of Taupo at around four weeks old.
The kiwi will remain there for at least six months until they reach a safe weight to be flown back to Wellington and released into the Rimutaka Forest Park.
Conservation Week runs from September 10-18.
