KEY POINTS:
An injured little spotted kiwi's return home after two months in rehabilitation at the Auckland Zoo is being hailed a success.
The female kiwi, named Hauraki by zoo staff, is one of only a handful successfully rehabilitated each year.
Hauraki was hurt during DoC's kiwi survey on Tiritiri Matangi Island two months ago when her mate got agitated and lashed out, seriously damaging her beak's tip.
John Potter, a veterinarian at Care for Conservation Medicine, said the injury would have been life-threatening had the kiwi been left on the island. "She would have died of starvation within a couple of weeks or got a severe infection."
The bird's rehabilitation was labour-intensive for staff as she would not eat the artificial diet normally provided and had to be force-fed twice a day.
Hauraki, fitted with a radio transmitter, will return to Tiritiri Matangi, where little spotted kiwi numbers have more than doubled since 2002 to between 60 and 80.
