On Sunday Mike Marg and myself (and Dasha of course) went to a kiwi release in Parua Bay. Ursula had sadly returned to Switzerland already.
The release was arranged by and organisation called Kiwi Coast. We were expecting maybe 20 cars or so. In fact there were cars lining both sides of the street, the car park at the community centre was full and the organisers said they counted 350 people before they started! It was really interesting, a very good presentation by Todd Hamilton followed by discussions etc. Members of the group then went through the crowds carrying the kiwis that were to be released so that everyone could get a good look. They were then put back into their boxes and we all went off to the release sites.
At each release site the kiwi was placed in a hole, the one we went to was at the base of a hollow tree, which was then blocked up to allow it to calm down. Todd would go back later to let them out. The northern brown kiwi doesn’t lay one of those enormous eggs, but 2, about 20 days apart, and 3 to 4 times a year, hence the rapid population increase once all the stoats, weasels and rats have been got rid of. All other kiwis only produce 1 egg at a time.
I was particularly impressed with the number of children at the release. At occasions like these I usually expect that most of the attendees are at least my age or older, ie. mostly pensioners. Here most of the crowd, as you can see from the photos, were young couples and their children
I also met with the coordinator of Kiwi Coast whom I asked about setting traps for weasels and stoats etc on our property. When she heard that we are on Franklin road she was very interested. Apparently we have a pair of kiwis quite close by and they need more trapping stations in the area. And they will come onto the property to set the traps and monitor them. I will keep you updated on developments.