{"id":52527,"date":"2024-05-17T04:28:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T04:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/the-kiwi-makes-a-startling-but-careful-comeback\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T04:28:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T04:28:22","slug":"the-kiwi-makes-a-startling-but-careful-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/the-kiwi-makes-a-startling-but-careful-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kiwi Makes a Startling but Careful Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/17\/multimedia\/17ozletter-ljzg\/17ozletter-ljzg-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Kiwi Makes a Startling but Careful Comeback\" title=\"The Kiwi Makes a Startling but Careful Comeback\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/nyt-australia-newsletter?module=inline\" title=\"\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">The Australia Letter<\/em><\/a><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week\u2019s issue is written by Pete McKenzie, a reporter based in Auckland, New Zealand.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Capturing a kiwi is more challenging than I expected. Despite standing just two feet tall, an adult bird is armed with pistonlike legs and razor-sharp claws. And, according to Will Kahu, a ranger with the conservation group Save the Kiwi, \u201cThey\u2019re surprisingly feisty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He recalled one standoff that ended with a kiwi leaping through the air, kicking him in the chest and sprinting off while he tumbled to the ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Which is how I found myself squatting safely atop a fallen tree in Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, a fenced-in nature reserve on New Zealand\u2019s North Island, while Mr. Kahu and several volunteers extracted a bird from its burrow in the rotting trunk beneath me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOne leg, two legs \u2014 got it,\u201d Dave Laithwaite, a volunteer at the sanctuary, said while groping around in the mud in the kiwi\u2019s narrow den. He pulled the writhing bird out, then calmed it by cradling it like a baby.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The kiwi, New Zealand\u2019s national bird, has seen a resurgence in numbers thanks to conservation efforts. In 2005, several kiwis were placed in the Maungatautari sanctuary in a last-ditch effort to prevent them from being hunted to extinction by predators like stoats and ferrets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, more than 2,500 of the fiercely territorial birds live on Sanctuary Mountain, which is quickly running out of space for them. To relieve the pressure, conservationists caught and exported 209 kiwis to new homes across the country last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s the biggest kiwi translocation ever,\u201d Mr. Kahu said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy feeling is of celebration,\u201d said Bodie Taylor, a representative of an Indigenous tribe that helps run Sanctuary Mountain. \u201cTo hear them tangi\u201d \u2014 cry \u2014 \u201cand see them running free, it opens your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Most remarkable is the way these flightless birds are being moved: by plane.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the hunt, I drove to Waikato Airport behind a van full of squeaking birds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re here for the Sanctuary Mountain flight,\u201d Steven Cox, a conservation ranger, said to an airport receptionist when we arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The receptionist asked what the cargo was.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cKiwi,\u201d Mr. Cox said. The receptionist said she\u2019d call over her manager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Outside, two planes from an aeronautics club in Wellington, New Zealand\u2019s capital, taxied across a runway. Conservationists prefer to transport kiwis by plane when relocating them across long distances to minimize travel time and stress on the birds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Kai Furst-Jaeger, the pilot, said as he helped load the birds onto the planes. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get to handle kiwi in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There were once 12 million kiwis in New Zealand, but the species was devastated after humans introduced predators like ferrets, rats and stoats. In areas with predators, less than 10 percent of hatchlings survive six months. Roughly 70,000 birds belonging to five species remain, mostly in fenced-in reserves or on remote islands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But intensive efforts by government rangers, volunteer trappers and conservationists at refuges like Sanctuary Mountain have propelled the growth of some kiwi species. The species at Sanctuary Mountain, the North Island brown kiwi, is expected to see its population increase by 10 percent over the next three generations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That is allowing conservationists to take risks: the birds from Sanctuary Mountain are going to reserves that are not fenced in. While trapping has eliminated most predators at these reserves, the kiwis there still face dangers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe know some kiwi may die in the wild, but we have to build large populations with resilience,\u201d said Michelle Bird, a coordinator for Save The Kiwi. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the population level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I hopped into an aircraft packed with six birds. As we rattled down the runway, I cast a worried eye at the crates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt must be a weird experience for them,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYeah, I hear flying isn\u2019t their strong suit,\u201d Chris Forbes, the pilot, joked. He told me he laughed when Wellington Aero Club asked for volunteers to help flightless kiwis soar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We flew between the snow-capped mountains of Ruapehu and Taranaki, then followed the coastline past Kapiti Island to Wellington. Below us lay sprawling fields with occasional towns and roadways: a landscape that has changed dramatically since kiwis roamed freely several centuries ago, when much of the land was native forest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019ve heard no squawks from the kiwi,\u201d Mr. Forbes said as we approached Wellington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI suppose that\u2019s a good sign,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We touched down smoothly, then pulled into a warehouse where half a dozen volunteers were waiting. Within minutes, the crates were loaded into several cars and on their way to the city\u2019s western edge, where the conservation group Capital Kiwi has spent five years establishing a predator-free zone. After being reintroduced into the area in 2022, the kiwi <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/04\/world\/australia\/kiwi-birds-wellington-new-zealand.html\" title=\"\">bred there<\/a> for the first time in living memory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, Sanctuary Mountain has sent 100 of the birds to the area to supercharge Wellington\u2019s growing kiwi population. As night fell, we unloaded the crates at the Karori Golf Course, which lies at the foot of the predator-free area. At the last hole, a tribal representative released a kiwi into a stand of native bush. As the kiwi scurried away, a native owl hooted in the starlight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt provides hope,\u201d Ms. Bird said of the kiwi transfer. \u201cAnd hope is important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here are this week\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/><\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Are you enjoying our Australia bureau dispatches?<\/strong><br \/>Tell us what you think at <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/17\/world\/australia\/mailto:nytaustralia@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback\" title=\"\">NYTAustralia@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Like this email?<\/strong><br \/>Forward it to your friends (they could use a little fresh perspective, right?) and let them know they can sign up <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/nyt-australia\/?te=1&amp;nl=nyt-australia&amp;emc=edit_aust_20190621\" title=\"\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/17\/world\/australia\/kiwi-comeback.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week\u2019s issue is written by Pete McKenzie, a reporter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Capturing a kiwi is more challenging than I expected. Despite standing just two feet tall, an adult bird is armed with pistonlike legs and razor-sharp claws. And, according to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/17\/multimedia\/17ozletter-ljzg\/17ozletter-ljzg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52258,3513,30469,19870],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52529,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52527\/revisions\/52529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}