Environment Waikato gets behind efforts to save kiwi

Environment Waikato has got behind efforts to save the kiwi from
extinction by granting $39,000 to the National Kiwi Trust.

The money will be used to help with the cost of rearing kiwi chicks at
the trust's Operation Nest Egg (ONE) breeding facilities at Rainbow
Springs, Rotorua.

ONE was launched in 1994 because a large percentage of kiwi chicks that
hatch in the wild are killed by introduced predators before they can
mature.

It has become so successful, Rainbow Springs can no longer cover the
full costs of keeping the programme running, which are approaching
$400,000 a year.

"The money we are giving will help with rearing chicks that will be
released in the Waikato region in areas such as the Coromandel,
Tongariro National Park and Maungatautari so there will be direct local
biodiversity benefits," Environment Waikato Environment Committee
chairman Jane Hennebry said.

"The trust hopes to release 13 birds in the Waikato over the 2007/08
breeding season. It is aiming to secure more funding from the corporate
sector in the near future but Environment Waikato's grant will help
sustain and grow the breeding programme in the short term."

The council will give $3000 for every bird successfully released into
the region, up to a maximum of $39,000.

The kiwi eggs hatched under Operation Nest Egg are retrieved from the
wild by Department of Conservation rangers, who deliver them to Rainbow
Springs to be incubated, hatched and reared.

The chicks are looked after until they weigh about one kilogram and are
big enough to defend themselves against predators.

The National Kiwi Trust's kiwi husbandry manager Claire Travers said the
kiwi population in the wild halved about every 10 years.

"Without human intervention the survival rate of young kiwi in the wild
is only 5%," she said.

"With good research, ongoing trapping programmes and the use of the
Operation Nest Egg Save the Kiwi programme this figure can be improved
to 60-70%. "

Environment Waikato is now placing greater emphasis on boosting
biodiversity in our region by protecting areas where kiwi and other
native species live and breed.