2020-04-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

low-slungcoastalareas.Alsofacing

precarityareitscousins,therowi(the

rarest,itlivesmostlyintheOkarito

kiwisanctuaryontheSouthIsland),

thetokoeka(alsocalledthesouthern

brown,it resemblesitsnortherncoun-

terpart),thegreatspottedkiwi(large

andrugged,it prefersmountains)and

thelittlespottedkiwi(greyandmot-

tled,it’sthesizeofa bantamhen).

Theyallhave hair-likefeathers,

cat-likewhiskersfornavigatingin

thedarkanda strongsenseofsmell

thankstoa long,sensitivebeakwith

nostrilsatthetip.Andalthoughthey

canrunquickly,kiwiareanythingbut

stealthy:thebirds’footfallsoundsal-

mosthuman-likeastheystompand

crashthroughthebush.Theseador-

ablecreaturesaretheclosestthing

NewZealandhastoa cuddlymascot.

Intotal,onlysome68,000ofthem

remain.

Manyofthecountry’sfeathered

f locksevolvedtoliveontheground;

theirpredatorscamefromthesky,

likethegiantHaast’seagle, now

extinct.Withoutthegiftoff light,

earthboundbirdslikethekiwiare

oftendefencelessagainstattacks

fromground-dwellinganimals.That

wasn’taproblemuntilEuropean

whalers,sealersandtradersbegan

stoppingbyinthelate1700s,about

500 yearsaftertheMa–oriarrived

fromPolynesia.WiththeEuropeans

camerodentsandthekiwis’enemy

No.1,theweasel-likestoat,intro-

duced in the late 1800s to control

thenewbutalreadyboomingrabbit
population.
Ofthefivekiwi,theNorthIsland
brownsaredisappearingthefastest,
largelyduetodeforestation.Addto
thatstoats,carcollisions,dogand
catattacks,possumtrapsandthefact
thatnearlyone-thirdofeggsarein-
fertileordon’thatch.Oftheonesthat
dohatch,onlyfivechicksinevery
100 survivetoreachthestoat-proof
weightofonekilogram.Without
protection,therewouldbea twoper
centdeclineinpopulationannually,
andwithin 50 years,theNorth Island
COURTESY OF MÉL ANIE DEVE AULT brown would be gone.

Bridget Palmerwithakiwi chick

inO–hope

95

Rare Bird