Sparky the one-legged kiwi visits Glenbervie School.
Sparky the one-legged kiwi visits Glenbervie School.
Sparky the kiwi has been visiting Taranaki for six years, and it seems he has a liking for the region.
On his latest visit last week Sparky surprised his handlers when he left his enclosed area and darted underneath the house he was staying at.
Sparky is popular with local children.
"All we can think is that maybe he wanted to stay in Taranaki a little longer," says Karen Schumacher, manager of the Purangi Kiwi Project, one of the partners involved in bringing Sparky to visit the region each year.
The decking boards were lifted to retrieve Sparky from his temporary home.
Sparky the one-legged kiwi visited Glenbervie School last year.
Sparky is the only kiwi in New Zealand allowed to visit schools, and spends much of his time spreading an important kiwi conservation message to youngsters and adults around the country.
He's based at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre where he lives after being found caught in a gin trap at just a few months old.
The trap cost Sparky one of his legs, but gave him a new role in life. Robert Webb, who with his wife Robyn founded the centre, hand-reared the young kiwi.
Sparky the one-legged kiwi visiting Glenbervie School
Unlike most kiwis, Sparky is not on a nocturnal schedule, meaning he is happy going out during the day, making it easy for youngsters to see a live kiwi.
Each year, Sparky visits schools and groups in the Taranaki region and this year he visited youngsters at Norfolk and Huirangi Primary schools before going on to meet Year 10 students at Francis Douglas Memorial College.
Schumacher says the Year 10s have been doing volunteer work for the Purangi Kiwi Project as part of their community service module.
Sparky also visited pupils at St Joseph's Primary School in New Plymouth, and over his couple of days in Taranaki met more than 800 people.
"A lot of people have been able to see our national bird live and up close," says Schumacher.
Sparky's visits to the region would not be possible without the support of Greymouth Petroleum.
