Weta stumps up to help Tahi the kiwi

Weta art director Gina Acevedo and staff from Wellington zoo make a mould from Tahi's leg so an artificial limb can be made. Picture / Wetaworks

A one-legged kiwi has been given movie star treatment in the hope his false leg will allow him to lead a more normal life.

In the first project of its type, Tahi the kiwi has been given a prosthetic leg with help from movie special effects studio Weta Workshop, Wellington's Artificial Limb Centre and Wellington Zoo.

The zoo hopes the new leg, which Tahi tried out for the longest stretch so far yesterday - half an hour - will encourage the male kiwi to overlook his deformity.

"A one-legged kiwi would not be able to mate successfully so we decided to try to give him a future instead of leaving him forgotten in a corner somewhere," said zoo chief executive Mauritz Basson.

Tahi is a North Island brown kiwi, largest of the kiwi sub-species groups, and is thought to be a young adult. He had his leg removed by Massey University veterinarians after he was caught in a gin trap in the wild.

He was sent to Wellington Zoo where staff worked with Weta, famed for its special effects in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, and the limb agency to see if a false leg would work for the the bird.

Tahi was anaesthetised while Weta art director Gina Acevedo made an exact copy of his stump, using the same techniques as she would for a false nose or mask on an actor. The mould was made using the same material orthodontists use to make exact copies of teeth.

That mould was then used by Artificial Limb Centre's Peter Allen to make the artificial limb but that required careful study of videos of the kiwi's gait.

"There are no prosthetic components that make joints this small so I scrounged around for little bits and pieces of metals, pins, bits of tube and recreated the joint," Mr Allen told the BBC.

Tahi was making good progress with the leg, which he seemed to simply ignore, said zoo chief executive Mauritz Basson.

"He walked around poking for worms with his beak but the chances of releasing him back into the wild are zero," he said.

It is hoped Tahi will be on public display one day, and that his story will be used to highlight the dangers of gin traps and other threats kiwi face in the wild.

"If the leg is a success we will have an important education tool," Mr Basson said.


Hills are alive

A successful breeding season means at least 30 kiwi are now roaming hills near Whakatane.

Nine new birds are living in Ohope Scenic Reserve after a breeding season Whakatane Kiwi Project manager Tansy Bliss yesterday called "the best season yet".

Five years ago, only four pairs of kiwi were known to inhabit the reserve.

Another three kiwi have been released on Motuhora (Whale) Island, which is predator-free, bringing the total number of birds there to 11.

A new breeding season starts next month. The first eggs will probably be removed in mid-September for hatching at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua.