Brown kiwi now a whiter shade of pale

Northern travellers heading to Pukaha Mt Bruce are now certain to see a white kiwi even before they reach their destination.

The huge kiwi that welcomes people to Eketahuna has had a colour change, from traditional brown to white.

The decision to link in with the rare trio of white kiwi born and now being raised at Pukaha was made by the Eketahuna Our Town committee some time back when Katrina Dimock was chair of the group and has been brought to fruition under the leadership of new chair Corinna Carew.

Mrs Carew said townsfolk had generally given the thumbs-up to the new look paint job carried out by Kath Miller.

Ms Miller is planning to touch up the kiwi's beak.

The switch to white is to tie in with the small, live white kiwis Manukura, Mauriora and Mapuna and to reinforce the fact Eketahuna is the closest town to the wildlife centre that houses them.