Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre Rare white Kiwi born

Chlidonias · 7 Mar 2015

two more white kiwi chicks have been hatched at Mt. Bruce. (Note that all these white kiwi chicks are from wild-living birds - probably the same pair - within the reserve's area. These two new chicks were found in the burrow, already hatched; the previous chicks were hatched in incubators after being removed from the burrows as eggs).

Two new white kiwi hatch at Pukaha! | Pukaha Mount Bruce

Last week one of the DoC rangers who regularly monitors the kiwi at Pukaha Mount Bruce found not one, but two white kiwi in a burrow at Pukaha Mount Bruce. This brings the number of white North Island Brown kiwi to be hatched at Pukaha since 2010 to five.

The burrow the white kiwi chicks were found in belongs to the father of the three other white kiwi previously hatched at Pukaha. We know that there is a one-in-four chance that chicks produced by the pair will be white, and as kiwi partnerships have been known to last for decades it’s not completely unexpected. But it still feels like we’ve won the lottery - again!

The kiwi chicks were today given a health check by Department of Conservation and Pukaha staff who confirmed the pair were in good health. The chicks have started to feed by themselves and the decision was made that they would remain in the reserve rather than be brought into the nursery.

Having kiwi hatch and survive in the wild is a great indication that the thousands of dollars each year spent on predator control in the reserve is paying off.

Any kiwi chick hatching at Pukaha is a truly special occasion, but the white kiwi are currently unique to Pukaha. Manukura, the first white kiwi to hatch here

Staff will regularly check the two chicks as their transmitters need to be re-sized regularly as they grow.
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vogelcommando · 7 Mar 2015

Article ( and photos ) of the white kiwis ) :
Two white kiwi chicks hatch at Mt Bruce | Stuff.co.nz

Chlidonias · 18 May 2015

two of the white kiwi at Mt. Bruce have been killed by a mustelid.
White kiwi chicks killed at Pukaha Mt Bruce | Stuff.co.nz

16 May 2015

Two rare white kiwi chicks are among seven kiwis killed by an "evil" predator at Pukaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre.

The three chicks and four adult birds died since March in the unfenced, 942-hectare reserve north of Masterton in a spike attributed to a "rogue ferret causing havoc", centre manager Helen Tickner said.

"It's desperately sad but we're an unfenced reserve and sadly, losses like this happen."

While all seven were North Island brown kiwi, two were born with pure white feathers because of a rare, recessive gene passed on by a breeding pair transferred with 28 other kiwi to the centre from Little Barrier Island in 2010.

The two killed, and three others born since 2011, are the only white kiwi known to have hatched in a reserve, although more may exist in the wild.

"Any kiwi loss is terrible but these [white chicks] are special to Pukaha and they didn't last their first month," said Tickner.

It had been a particularly bad year for predation, not just at Pukaha but around the country. Prior to the latest deaths kiwi were sporadically killed at Pukaha, but the most recent was the end of last year. The last similar spike there was in 2010, when nine died in one month, with a ferret again the culprit.

Some ferrets became skilled at avoiding the centre's extensive, Department of Conservation-run trapping network. "They're not stupid... I think the term I'd use is evil," Tickner said.

The trapping programme would be intensified and new trap types, placements, baits and other variations tried, she said. Rats, stoats, ferrets, feral cats and other predators were being caught constantly but the system would never be impregnable. Even expensively-fenced reserves such as Zealandia occasionally suffered predation, she said. "We feel sick about this, but it is a battle, and we feel confident we're doing all we can to try and stop this."

Wildlife veterinarian at Massey University's Wildbase Hospital Brett Gartrell said white kiwi were no more vulnerable than brown to predators, despite their white plumage shining at night, because predators relied mainly on all kiwis' very strong, distinctive smell to pinpoint them before they could see them.

All kiwi were at extreme risk from introduced predators, against which they had not had time to evolve any defence mechanisms, he said. "Young kiwis are dying at an incredible rate... white kiwis are just a colour variation of the regular North Island brown kiwi, and they're important, special birds that need protection."

Individual predators sometimes became "trap-smart" and, when they ranged into a bird-rich area such as Pukaha, big spikes in mortality happened.
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OrangePerson · 18 May 2015

Very, very, very sad but they're not evil, they're in the wrong place!

Elephas Maximus · 18 May 2015

OrangePerson said: ↑

Very, very, very sad but they're not evil, they're in the wrong place!
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This doesn't free them from death sentence. As well as rats, dogs, cats and other imported & feral scum.

I just hope that whatever has remained from those kiwis was preserved.

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Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre Rare white Kiwi born

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