Living Heritage - Tikanga Tuku Iho

Rowi, Okarito Kiwi

Home        Identify        Threats         Protection        Help Rowi        Kiwi dog       Teachers/Links  

Threats to Rowi   

 

                   Stoats

                   Stoats were brought to New Zealand to

                   control rabbits but unfortunately they

                   found that our native birds were easier prey.

 

                   Although adult kiwi are strong enough to look

                   after themselves, kiwi chicks are in danger

                   until they get to approximately 1 kilogram in

                   weight and are big enough to fight off stoats.

 

 

         Possums are another threat to Rowi

 

Possums have been videotaped entering kiwi burrows

and may damage eggs and possibly upset kiwi that

are breeding. DOC do a great job of controlling

these pests.

 

                                                                             

 

                                                                          Stoat Trapping   

 

To try to stop stoats killing kiwis,  DOC have set 1500

traps over 10 000 hectares of the Okarito forest.  

That's about 10km by 10kms. It would take all day to

walk from one side of the forest to the other!

The traps are put in wooden trap boxes that keep out

native birds. The tunnels are baited with a  hens egg

or pieces of rabbit meat. Hunters check the traps 20

times a year to see if stoats have been caught.

 

Read this story!

 

 Click on the book cover to read an excerpt from chapter 10 of Janet Hunt's book

Stoatal Enemies - Rowi, the Okarito brown kiwi.                                                        

(Reproduced with kind permission from Janet Hunt)

 

  Winner Non Fiction and New Zealand Post Book of the Year
A Bird in the Hand: Keeping New Zealand Wildlife Safe
Janet Hunt

Random House New Zealand

 

 

Review of Bird in the Hand