Kiwi hit by truck released back into wild

Darkstar in her cast with Auckland Zoo vet nurse Nicole Czerniak. Photo / Dean Purcell

Welsh-born Amanda Jones had never seen a kiwi in the wild until two months ago when a young female bird ran in front of her car on a dark Northland road.

Mrs Jones and her husband Roger were devastated as they held the badly injured kiwi in their arms.

They rushed the young Northland brown kiwi, named Darkstar, to a local bird rescue centre from where it was taken to Auckland Zoo and a cast put on its broken foot.

It had since made a full recovery and was today being released back into the wild near Nunguru, north of Whangarei.

Zoo staff said Darkstar could live to 50 years old and produce up to 100 eggs.

Mrs Jones, 49, an intensive care nurse at Whangarei Hospital, said today she and her husband thought they had killed the New Zealand icon.

"It was a bit of a shock. I had never seen a kiwi before in the wild and now I had run one over. It was right in the middle of the road and I was devastated," she told NZPA.

Mrs Jones said the kiwi kept returning to the middle of the road.

"It tried to run away but it was dragging its leg. It wasn't even running into the bush, it was running back into the middle of the road."

"I didn't know if it would survive because we were in a great big four-wheel-drive truck and I thought oh my God, truck versus kiwi - there's no competition."

She said she was "absolutely thrilled it was going to survive and is going back into the wild.

"I feel privileged to be part of it all. I just wish I had never hit it in the first place."

Darkstar was hatched at Auckland Zoo in September, 2007, and then released onto a kiwi creche on Motuora Island.

Last October Department of Conservation staff released Darkstar and eight other birds near Tutukaka.

Veterinarian John Potter said the bird's foot had healed completely and she was healthy and strong.

Darkstar's release came as environmentalists pleaded with people not to remove kiwi warning road signs after a bird was killed on the Central Plateau this week.

The kiwi was run over on Bruce Rd near Whakapapa Village just days after the yellow-and-black diamond traffic sign warning drivers to look out for kiwis was removed.

DOC kiwi ranger Pete Graham said anyone who thought they had hit a kiwi should stop and not reverse back.

"If it's injured, put it somewhere warm and quiet, then get in touch with DOC, a vet, or your local bird recovery centre," said Mr Graham.

- NZPA