Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Advocates are calling for kiwi chicks hatched overseas to be sent home to be reintroduced into the wild (file photo)
There’s almost the same amount of kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird, in captivity overseas as there is in NZ, with advocates calling for chicks to be sent home to be released into the wild.
According to the Department of Conservation there are around 60 birds offshore, while NZ has a population of 85 birds in captivity.
DOC raised concerns on Tuesday of Zoo Miami’s treatment of the kiwi Paora, who was being handled by guests under bright lights for US$25 per person.
Robert Webb from Whāngarei Native Bird Recovery Centre said he didn’t mind that there was a breeding population overseas, but that chicks hatched there should be sent home to be reintroduced into the wild.
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A big enough population is needed overseas to create a broad gene pool so that there are no problems with interbreeding, he said.
“There are no problems whatsoever”, Webb said about reintroducing kiwis born in captivity into the wild.
Webb said he had hatched over 250 chicks at his centre and has a process he goes through before a release is possible.
DAVID WHITE/STUFF
Robert Webb from the Whāngarei Native Bird recovery Centre has hatched over 250 chicks in his career (file photo)
“Three weeks before we release them we put them in an outside cage and don’t interact with them any more.
“After three weeks, they won’t let anyone near them any more, they just want to do their own thing.”
The real reward is seeing them head back into the wild again, he said.
Having a population overseas is good as a fail-safe if a disease takes hold of kiwis in NZ, Webb said, that way a new breeding population can always be started again.
Save the Kiwi executive director Michelle Impey said there is some logic by having a large scale population overseas if you need genetic variation.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Kiwi are being released onto Motutapu for the first time since 2020, when a stoat was detected on the pest-free island in Auckland's Haurakui Gulf. Any kiwi chicks hatched on the island will be used to repopulate the mainland.
“You can match the pairings so that anything that is bred is genetically robust.”
All the birds in captivity in NZ are treated as one population, she said, so everyone works together as part of the breeding program.
DOC director of terrestrial biodiversity Hilary Aikman said all kiwis that are overseas have been gifted and that they are now managed separately from the NZ population by the national association where they are homed.
”DOC does not hold the legislative authority to regulate the care of kiwi at overseas institutions, as this responsibility is held by the country they were gifted to.”
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'Send them home': Almost the same amount of kiwis in captivity overseas as NZ - Stuff
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