That’swhyPalmer,Blackanda
groupof 130 volunteersareputting
inover 5000 hoursa yeartosavethe
kiwi.Establishedin2006,theWhaka-
ta–neKiwiTrustmonitorsthebirds
forresearchpurposes,helpstheDOC
withpredatorcontrolandoffersedu-
cationinschoolsandtothegeneral
public.Black,a computerprogram-
mer,hasevencreatedtheWebApp
thatallowsvolunteerstorecordall
thingskiwirelated,fromhoursand
trappingtotrackingandmapping.It’s
beingconsideredasthemodelfora
nationaldatabase.
WhentheDOCsurveyedO–hope
in1999,itcountedonlyfourpairsof
kiwi.Thirteenyearsafterthetrust’s
founding,therewereover 300 birds
intotal,thanksinparttotheremov-
alofmorethan13,000predators,in-
cluding1,000-plusstoatsand300-plus
weasels.
But thegroup’strackers–nick-
named‘chickpingers’forthesound
theirantennas make when they
pickupa bird’stransmittersignal–
andtrappersfaceaquick-thinking,
quick-breedingfoe.FromJuly 2017 to
July2018,a familyofstoatsinO–hope
wasunwillingtoapproachatrap
evenforsaltedrabbit;thefemalewas
teachingherkitstoavoidthetrapand
thebait,killingkiwichicksinstead.All
fourofPea’soffspringthatyeardied,
whichisonereasonthevolunteersare
particularlyinvestedinhisnewclutch.
Peahaslongbeenafavouriteof
Palmer’s;shenamed the bird after
hermotherandnowsponsorshim,
paying$335peryearforhistrans-
mitter,whichhasa batterylifeof 12
months.With 22 adultmalesand 16
chickstotrackannuallyacrossthree
reserves,thetrustattractssponsorsby
promisingfacetimewiththebirdsin
theirnaturalhabitat.MostNewZea-
landershaveneverseentheirnoctur-
nalnationalanimal.Peaisalsoa local
celebrity:heisthefirstchicktohatch
andgrowupinthewildaspartofthe
Whakata–neKiwiProject.
Priorto2011,whenPeawasborn,
thetrustwasworkingwithOper-
ationNestEgg(ONE),aninitiative
involvingtheDOC,communitycon-
servationgroups,Ma–ori, researchers
andrearingfacilities.ThroughONE,
kiwieggsandchicksareremoved
fromtheirburrowsandraisedin
captivityuntiltheyweighatleast
onekilogram,astheoddsofsurviv-
ingstoatattacksbeforereachingthis
milestoneweightarezero.Ittakes
aboutsixmonthsbeforetheycanbe
returnedtotheirformerterritory.
AfteryearsofusingONE’sservices,
theWhakata–neKiwiProjectwanted
tohelpthebirdsinsitubymonitor-
ingthechicksfromhatch.Somesea-
sonshavebeenmoresuccessfulthan
others.Palmerisdisappointedby
Pea’ssecondchick’sfailuretohatch
butprefersthattodeathbystoat.“In
mymind,thisisMotherNaturetak-
ingitscourse,”shesays.
RainbowSpringsNatureParkmay
differ from the trust’s workspace,96 April 2020
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