Kiwi hatching facility near Taupō hatches its 200th chick

Whakaora, the 200th kiwi chick hatched at the Kiwi Burrow, which opened in October 2019. Photo / Save the Kiwi

A kiwi hatching facility has marked its 200th hatchling in just over two years of operating.

The new chick has been named Whakaora, which means "healing" or "to save", and arrived on the auspicious date of 2/2/2022.

The burrow, run by Save the Kiwi, also has 12 eggs incubating, three in various stages of hatching, and 14 chicks putting on weight in the brooder room.

So far this season, 81 chicks have been released, and the Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow has the potential to beat last season's total of 101 successful hatches.

Save the Kiwi executive director Michelle Impey says 200 kiwi hatched was a significant milestone because 95 per cent of kiwi chicks that hatch in areas of the wild without predator control die before they reach adulthood.

"Two hundred kiwi chicks that probably wouldn't have survived in the wild if they'd been left to fend for themselves will make a huge difference to the future of the kiwi population."

ICYMI, this morning the country's newest kiwi chick hatched live onair at the Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow. After a few...

Posted by Save the Kiwi NZ on Tuesday, February 15, 2022

The egg Whakaora grew from was donated by Taranaki iwi Ngāti Tama.

When Whakaora is four weeks old, the chick will be released to live in New Zealand's largest mainland predator-free fenced area, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari south of Cambridge.

And its offspring will eventually be returned to the iwi or sent to other North Island areas where kiwi populations are being fostered.