Over 360 keen locals attended the Backyard Kiwi Release on February 19th to see four more Northland brown kiwi released at Parua Bay.
The four kiwi – Murdoch, Maia, Om and Fetu Mama – wowed the crowd from the arms of their accredited kiwi handlers, as they granted a few precious moments of a wild kiwi encounter before heading off to be released.
Separating into smaller groups, the community were then able to watch two of the kiwi – Murdoch and Maia – being released into prepared burrows after a karakia from Backyard Kiwi chairperson Danny Tuato’o.
The event was of special significance to the Parua Bay community, with one of the kiwi being named after recently deceased local legend Murdoch Ross, upon whose family land the event took place.
Backyard Kiwi Project Manager Todd Hamilton said “For us, kiwi releases are treasured community events, where we can give back to the locals and thank them for all their hard work over the last two decades. Murdoch Ross was a very special person to our community and it was humbling to honour him in this way.”
“Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Whangarei Heads, kiwi numbers have risen from 80 to over 1130. That exceptional result is all due to dedicated local dog owners tying up their dogs and walking them on leads, and the sustained pest control involving predator trapping and pulses of ground based 1080. These things are critical to kiwi survival and it’s why we can release four more kiwi here, right behind the Parua Bay Village”.
The four kiwi all grew up on the Matakohe-Limestone Island kiwi creche, after being transferred as chicks from the Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary with support from Ngāti Hine. They were welcomed back to the mainland on Sunday morning by Onerahi locals and members of Te Parawhau hapū, who led the group in a naming ceremony and whakawātea.
During the event, Matakohe Limestone Island Ranger, Jo Skyrme thanked the Northland Pacific Island Charitable Trust who named one of the kiwi ‘Fetu Mama’ and Multicultural Whangārei who named the other kiwi ‘Om’.
“The look on people’s faces when they see kiwi for the first time is often priceless, and we absolutely love being a part of making that happen!” she said.
The four kiwi were an equal mix of males and females, although they ranged in age. One of the females, Om, was around 10 years old – and much larger at 2.6kg than the smaller female Maia who weighed in at 1.8kg and was considered to be in her teenage years and still growing at around two years old.
“With the continued commitment of local landowners to safe-guard the kiwi literally living in their backyard, these kiwi will safely live for another 50 years. At each kiwi release event we take time to make sure everyone understands the need for that good dog control and sustained pest control. It’s not a tourist show – these events are about community and kiwi”.
Each kiwi was fitted with a tiny radio transmitter to enable their movements and activity to be monitored remotely.
