The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group
The kiwi, New Zealands national icon, is under siege. By 2004, the population had fallen to about 70,000.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group a partnership between 50 landowners, the Department of Conservation and Environment Waikato is aiming to ensure the survival of brown kiwi living on 3700 hectares on the eastern slopes of Coromandel Peninsula, between Tairua and Hot Water Beach.
About 25,000 brown kiwi remain in New Zealand.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Zone is the largest area of protected coastal forest between Wellington and Whitianga.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group; an overview
The goal of the Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group is to promote the welfare of kiwi and their habitat.
In 2001, a Department of Conservation survey recorded about 31 adult kiwi in the Whenuakite Valley area. The greatest concentration was on properties where owners had made an effort to exclude dogs, with none on DOC land (one third of the total area) where kiwi had been heard nine years earlier.
The survival rate was estimated at 5%, not enough to sustain the population.
DOC called for landowners help and the Whenuakite Care Group was born, involving 50 members (including a committee of 12) in predator control over the 3700 hectare Kiwi Zone.
The success of the operation can be measured in a doubling of kiwis since the 2001 survey, with 68 counted this winter (22 on the DOC estate).
Surveys are carried out by counting kiwi calls rather than actual birds, to avoid disturbance.
Group chairman Arthur Hinds and his wife Diane farm close to a third of the Kiwi Care Zone, 450 hectares owned by them and 800 hectares leased from fellow Kiwi Care enthusiasts Lin and Charlotte Wallace. The Hinds milk 500 cows plus run 200 bulls.
Arthur comments that while kiwi live in the bush, they often come out onto paddocks at night to probe the soft soil for grubs.
Kiwi threats
Dogs, cats, stoats and ferrets are the main kiwi predators. Around 95% of kiwi losses occur before kiwis reach three months old. DOC research suggests that 95% of adult kiwi deaths are caused by dogs with ferrets also killers.
Arthur Hinds has long been aware of the threat posed to kiwi on his property by (mostly pig-hunters) dogs and have done my darndest to keep them off. Last year he successfully (and publicly) fought a charge over killing three trespassing pig-hunting dogs and the maiming of another, with police concluding that the shooting was legally justified.
DOC is now putting a lot of effort into getting dogs kiwi aversion trained. This involves fitting them with an electric collar, then introducing them to the smell of kiwi. Every time they show an interest, they get a zap. Arthur regards irresponsible dog-owners and those dumping unwanted cats in the countryside as the main culprit in kiwi deaths.
The work of the Kiwi Care Group
The main work of the Kiwi Care Group is to plan, oversee and monitor the results of ongoing predator control.
Two people are employed on predator control, plus several members do this work themselves.
Six hundred and sixty mustelid traps (52 kilometres of lines) baited with eggs are set out over the 3700 hectares, with night shooting wiping out remaining animals. Possums and rats are controlled using bait stations holding Pestoff (brodifacoum), also toxic to stoats and feral cats.
This year $6000 has been put aside for controlling cats, using cage traps and night shooting.
After some debate, three of the major Kiwi Care landowners have agreed to support an aerial drop of 1080, planned for the first week in August. A fourth will continue to use bait stations.
DOC is confident that this will take out large numbers of possums and rats without affecting kiwi, based on monitoring of populations before and after previous aerial applications.
It is hard to argue with the comparative costs of aerial and ground control; $30,000 versus $120,000, says Arthur.
Trapping tallies to date are; stoats 650, ferrets 9, weasels 25, cats 150. Punga, the projects mustelid detecting dog audits the area. Species controlled also include weasels, pigs and hedgehogs which all either prey on native species (including kiwi or their food) or destroy the habitat need to sustain kiwi.
Members also help raise and manage funds, and promote kiwi awareness in the local area. A measure of public relations success is that in subdivisions bordering the Kiwi Care Zone, people are becoming increasingly aware that cats and dogs should be kept inside at night. Potential subdividers are considering placing no cats and dogs covenants on titles.
Funding
The Kiwi Care group spends about $60,000 per year plus volunteers contribute probably an equivalent value in time. Donations in an honesty box by the display panels on Tarua Hill help cover some costs.
The presence of kiwis certainly does help attract tourists to the area, plus is used by real estate agents to promote subdivisions as right next to the kiwi zone. However, there is no direct feedback to Kiwi Care funds.
The Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust is a major sponsor. Funding, advice, materials and support are also provided by central and local government, and many local businesses and individuals.
Results
Along with an increase in the kiwi population and a decrease in predators and other animal pests since the project began, there are also more lizards, kaka and keruru being seen.
I used to see maybe one or two kaka at a time. Now its 8-20 and keruru are flying in mobs of up to 40, says Arthur.
Such success helps keep members motivated.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group a partnership between 50 landowners, the Department of Conservation and Environment Waikato is aiming to ensure the survival of brown kiwi living on 3700 hectares on the eastern slopes of Coromandel Peninsula, between Tairua and Hot Water Beach.
About 25,000 brown kiwi remain in New Zealand.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Zone is the largest area of protected coastal forest between Wellington and Whitianga.
The Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group; an overview
The goal of the Whenuakite Kiwi Care Group is to promote the welfare of kiwi and their habitat.
In 2001, a Department of Conservation survey recorded about 31 adult kiwi in the Whenuakite Valley area. The greatest concentration was on properties where owners had made an effort to exclude dogs, with none on DOC land (one third of the total area) where kiwi had been heard nine years earlier.
The survival rate was estimated at 5%, not enough to sustain the population.
DOC called for landowners help and the Whenuakite Care Group was born, involving 50 members (including a committee of 12) in predator control over the 3700 hectare Kiwi Zone.
The success of the operation can be measured in a doubling of kiwis since the 2001 survey, with 68 counted this winter (22 on the DOC estate).
Surveys are carried out by counting kiwi calls rather than actual birds, to avoid disturbance.
Group chairman Arthur Hinds and his wife Diane farm close to a third of the Kiwi Care Zone, 450 hectares owned by them and 800 hectares leased from fellow Kiwi Care enthusiasts Lin and Charlotte Wallace. The Hinds milk 500 cows plus run 200 bulls.
Arthur comments that while kiwi live in the bush, they often come out onto paddocks at night to probe the soft soil for grubs.
Kiwi threats
Dogs, cats, stoats and ferrets are the main kiwi predators. Around 95% of kiwi losses occur before kiwis reach three months old. DOC research suggests that 95% of adult kiwi deaths are caused by dogs with ferrets also killers.
Arthur Hinds has long been aware of the threat posed to kiwi on his property by (mostly pig-hunters) dogs and have done my darndest to keep them off. Last year he successfully (and publicly) fought a charge over killing three trespassing pig-hunting dogs and the maiming of another, with police concluding that the shooting was legally justified.
DOC is now putting a lot of effort into getting dogs kiwi aversion trained. This involves fitting them with an electric collar, then introducing them to the smell of kiwi. Every time they show an interest, they get a zap. Arthur regards irresponsible dog-owners and those dumping unwanted cats in the countryside as the main culprit in kiwi deaths.
The work of the Kiwi Care Group
The main work of the Kiwi Care Group is to plan, oversee and monitor the results of ongoing predator control.
Two people are employed on predator control, plus several members do this work themselves.
Six hundred and sixty mustelid traps (52 kilometres of lines) baited with eggs are set out over the 3700 hectares, with night shooting wiping out remaining animals. Possums and rats are controlled using bait stations holding Pestoff (brodifacoum), also toxic to stoats and feral cats.
This year $6000 has been put aside for controlling cats, using cage traps and night shooting.
After some debate, three of the major Kiwi Care landowners have agreed to support an aerial drop of 1080, planned for the first week in August. A fourth will continue to use bait stations.
DOC is confident that this will take out large numbers of possums and rats without affecting kiwi, based on monitoring of populations before and after previous aerial applications.
It is hard to argue with the comparative costs of aerial and ground control; $30,000 versus $120,000, says Arthur.
Trapping tallies to date are; stoats 650, ferrets 9, weasels 25, cats 150. Punga, the projects mustelid detecting dog audits the area. Species controlled also include weasels, pigs and hedgehogs which all either prey on native species (including kiwi or their food) or destroy the habitat need to sustain kiwi.
Members also help raise and manage funds, and promote kiwi awareness in the local area. A measure of public relations success is that in subdivisions bordering the Kiwi Care Zone, people are becoming increasingly aware that cats and dogs should be kept inside at night. Potential subdividers are considering placing no cats and dogs covenants on titles.
Funding
The Kiwi Care group spends about $60,000 per year plus volunteers contribute probably an equivalent value in time. Donations in an honesty box by the display panels on Tarua Hill help cover some costs.
The presence of kiwis certainly does help attract tourists to the area, plus is used by real estate agents to promote subdivisions as right next to the kiwi zone. However, there is no direct feedback to Kiwi Care funds.
The Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust is a major sponsor. Funding, advice, materials and support are also provided by central and local government, and many local businesses and individuals.
Results
Along with an increase in the kiwi population and a decrease in predators and other animal pests since the project began, there are also more lizards, kaka and keruru being seen.
I used to see maybe one or two kaka at a time. Now its 8-20 and keruru are flying in mobs of up to 40, says Arthur.
Such success helps keep members motivated.