T avelling on the Kiwi Experience bus tour
Rotorua to Auckland
The whole team, plus a new bunch in the KE tour bus
On our way towards Bay of Islands and NZ's most northerly point
Distance: 229km
Total Distance: 981
I left not too bright and early from Rotorua, catching the KE bus going north. There's a random bunch of people on here from all over the world (still lots of English & Germans though).
Had a good chat with a few before we dropped in at a large Kiwi hatchery. It was advertised as the place where one would get the closest experience possible with a Kiwi. I slightly take issue with that- there's a Kiwi in Napier Aquarium where they have a hatchery. The hatchery isn't on public display, but they do have a Kiwi. There's also a one legged Kiwi in Wellington Zoo- not sure why they haven't given him/her a prosthetic, I'm sure I know a couple of people who could. (Mammal-like bone structure too, including marrow, unlike most birds. Easy as. I'm sure they have a reason, Wellington Zoo has good Veterianry facilities.)
What I will say for the nursery near Rotorua though is that it's the best. The kiwis they have are in excellent enclosures and seemed much more lively than the others I've seen. (Napier Aquarium deserves more funding and Welli has one leg.) The hatchery and nursery were also great to see.
The mother kiwi can lay 2 eggs per season, but each egg is HUGE. They are the equivalent of a 35lb baby fo a human (5year old child).
After birth the father takes over (monogamous, so daddy and mummy share a territory for life), and sits on the egg for 80 day. This is how they find the eggs- the fathers are tagged. If he stays in one spot for a long time that's probably an egg.
Naturally, at this point, the fathe leaves. The chicks squeaks and scratches its way out of the egg (no egg tooth) over the course of a week, making lots of noise for predators to hear. It quite often sleeps for long periods during the process. Each chick has an internalised yolk sack that acts as a feed source for 2 weeks before it needs to eat (a chicken's lasts 24 hours), giving it long enough to mature. Yeh, it's not long- they come out as mini-adults.
After all of this the wild survival rate is 5%. Not really enough.
Ferrets used to kill 40,000 kiwis per year
There's 75,000 in the wild.
Time to bring in the humans.
Having tracked down the sitting kiwi the egg is retrieved after the fath has left.
It is brought into the hatchery where the shell is checked for cracks and the size of the air sack in the egg is measured- this indicates how old the chick is so gives a guide to how long until hatching.
After this the egg is placed in an incubator. Most eggs go in the large one that does everything- temperature control, air flow, turning the eggs. Similar model to that used to raise farm chickens, but for bigger eggs.
Special eggs that there might be concerns about are placed in slightly older models- still temperature controlled, but the turning has to be done manually. This means someone has to go and look at the eggs and check they are alright.
Eventually the chick with start to hatch. Most birds have an "egg tooth", a little toe bit of extra beak to break open the egg shell. Kiwis don't . They just have to hammer their way out of the egg, between sleeps, over the course of a week, until they emerge fully feathered, with giant feet and tiny wings. (Occasionally birds need help put most are allowed to hatch naturally). They get a dab of iodine on their navel, just like lambs and calves.
The nursery weighs them and puts them in a different incubator for them to adjust to life and eat their internal yolk.
Once they are judged medically sound they can be moved further. They get fed a combination of Hill's Science Plan Optimum Cat Food, with mixed veg, fruit, wheat germ, vitamins and minerals, rolled oats, few other bits mixed in to a soft blend. Yummy.
It's more nutritionally sound than just giving them the kilos of bugs they would naturally have, as well as cheaper and easier that's growing kilos of bugs. Each kiwi gets a wee dish of the mix. Once it finishes its share (some get a little h lo to start them off) they get "desert"- a blend of live bugs! Don't finish your main, don't get to play with your other food. Rules is rules.
They keep track of weights to ensure the little balls of fluff are growing properly.
After they're sure they can hunt and live in the wild properly they are released to a "colony". Whilst each kiwi has a territory, they try to keep them in a specific area. This enables them to keep track of the kiwis and allows them to only have to look after a certain amount of land (as well as making kiwi match making easier)
In total the process costs NZ$2000-2500 (GB£1000-1250), from collection to release. In the wild it takes about NZ$100 per kiwi per year. They live for around 20-30 years, so per kiwi it's not cheap. Hence many of the kiwis are sponsored by companies. These sponsors are allowed to name the kiwis...but this is before they know the sex of the bird.
Like many birds these days it is possible to take out 1 feather and do a PCR DNA test to find out if he is a she or she is a he. The test is becoming cheaper, but it's not very fast, taking weeks to get the results back. Hence Miss Steven and Miss Dugg.
At present they have 2 adults on site, a mating pair. Both very lively in their little forested enclosure, running about diggin for grubs and pruning themselves.
We also had a wee drop into Matamata. The town used to be famous for horse breeding. With the filming of The Hobbit, however, the Hobbiton set was rebuilt nearby. This has given the area a tourist trade, to the point that they've had their information centre converted into a thatched cottage by Weta Workshop.
Tonto made a friend inside
Now I'm on a quiet, sleepy bus heading towards Auckland, watching Wedding Crashers, as the weather closes in.
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