Kiwi handlers Helen McCormick and Kelsi Thompson, of the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow in Taupō, perform a quick health check on one of the birds during last year's translocation. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Kiwi handlers Helen McCormick and Kelsi Thompson, of the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow in Taupō, perform a quick health check on one of the birds during last year's translocation. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
A special kiwi translocation season is about to get under way in Waikato.
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and local iwi are not only celebrating the 20th anniversary of the reintroduction of kiwi on Maungatautari, but this year will also be the first time the public can experience the work behind the translocation first-hand.
The translocation project is a collaboration between Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Ngāti Korokī Kahukura and conservation trust Save the Kiwi as part of the trust’s kōhanga kiwi strategy, which aims to boost the population by 2% annually.
The translocation happens across a period of several weeks, with the kiwi being moved in “batches” of around 20 birds a day.
A group of volunteers is out and about around the sanctuary to locate and capture the birds. The kiwi will then undergo a health check and get ready to be sent off to their new homes.
The latter part is what the public will now be able to see for themselves.
On the interactive 1.5-hour Kiwi Experience tour, participants will learn about Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, the ngahere [forest] and kiwi conservation efforts, witness a kiwi health check, and see a kiwi up-close and take photos.
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari chief executive Helen Hughes said the tours were “a journey into the heart of kiwi conservation” and would allow visitors to invest in the future of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.
“We believe that education and engagement are key to successful conservation and our Kiwi Experience tours will ... provide our manuhiri [visitors] with a taste of what it takes to protect and help our kiwi taonga recover and thrive as a species.”
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari visitor experience manager Tali Jellyman said experiences during last year’s translocation had sparked the idea for the tour.
After a quick health check, the kiwi are put into wooden travel boxes. Kiwi handler Helen McCormick is shielding off the bird's eyes, as kiwi are mostly nocturnal birds. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
“There were a few groups, including a school, who coincidentally visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari at the same time as the translocation happened,” Jellyman said.
“As soon as you see the reaction from people who spontaneously come across it, you realise how valuable this experience is [to conservation]. It’s a wonderful educational opportunity.”
The sanctuary currently houses an estimated kiwi population of 3000. The foundation for this was laid 20 years ago.
In 2005, Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro gifted four kiwi chicks to Ngāti Korokī Kahukura to begin a founding population within the sanctuary.
Ngāti Koroki Kahukura representatives Ted Tauroa and Poto Davies said Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and Ngāti Koroki Kahukura will never forget the act of tono [gifting and asking].
“Due to the first gifting of kiwi by Ngāti Hikairo of Tūwharetoa in 2005, Maungatautari kiwi have flourished. Ngāti Koroki Kahukura and Ngāti Tūwharetoa elders developed this process, including paramount chief Tumu te Heuheu,” Tauroa said.
Davies added: “Other source sites gifted kiwi in 2005, the Waimarino tribes and Rotokare of Taranaki. Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and Ngāti Koroki Kahukura will continue to acknowledge our iwi and community, who gifted 400 kiwi founders to the maunga.”
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is located between Te Awamutu and Putāruru.
All kiwi at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari are North Island brown kiwi from the western region.
To date, 346 kiwi have been translocated from Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to other locations within the North Island to boost existing populations.
In 2019, 13 birds were moved to Waimarino. In 2023, 111 birds were moved to Tongariro National Park and Capital Kiwi in Wellington, and last year, 222 kiwi were moved to Tongariro, Capital Kiwi in Wellington and Taranaki Mounga, making it New Zealand’s largest kiwi translocation.
This year, the team jokingly said they would aim to move 333 birds to new homes at Capital Kiwi, Tongariro and Taranaki.
Hughes said the team was “incredibly proud” of the success of the kiwi translocation programme.
About 300 kiwi will move to new homes soon. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
“Each kiwi we help relocate represents a step forward in our mission to restore and protect New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.
“The programme and critical work our team is doing is being recognised globally as world-leading, and we are thrilled to be able to help elevate New Zealand on the international conservation stage.”
Save the Kiwi chief executive Michelle Impey said Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari was one of the cornerstones of Save the Kiwi’s kōhanga kiwi strategy.
“Over the past two years, our team, working in partnership with the amazing staff and volunteers at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, [has] delivered 333 kiwi to new homes in Mākara (Wellington), Tongariro and Taranaki Mounga.
“It has been heartwarming to see the impact the arrival of these kiwi have on local communities, and it is exciting that members of the public will now have the chance to experience this.”
The Kiwi Experience tours will run from March until mid-April, with all proceeds going towards Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari’s kiwi programme and supporting ongoing conservation efforts.
