19 Jul Save The Kiwi Bird
This is a blog post very close to our hearts here at Kiwi! As you may know, Brendon our MD is from NZ and his friends chose the name Kiwi out of five options he gave them. As it not only references the colloquial name given to those from NZ but also the Kiwi Bird that is native to the country. Our logo incorporates the Kiwi bird.
The Kiwi is a natural fit with New Zealanders’ national psyche as they relate to their quirkiness, evolved over millions of years of isolation from mammals.
Lots of people hope to see this native bird when visiting the country but rarely do any get to see one. The sad reality that the Kiwi birds have become endangered!
Kiwis for Kiwi are dedicated to the conservation of these birds and to help get them off the endangered list. There are 5 Kiwi sanctuaries in New Zealand, managed by the Department Of Conservation. These sanctuaries are needed as the Kiwi bird’s habitat is shrinking! The overall rate of decline for unmanaged Kiwi populations is estimated to be 3% per year for Brown Kiwi, and 2% for Great Spotted Kiwi and Tokoeka.
Fortunately, we are living in a world where technology is at our disposal and advancements in this area are a good thing when it comes to conservation. Researchers are looking into cost effective ways to control predatory threats to the Kiwi as without this the Kiwi is set to disappear in as little as 75 years.
These sanctuaries provide a safe haven for Kiwis. Within their boundaries, more young Kiwi survive each year, allowing the populations to increase. Rowi and Haast Tokoeka populations in the South Island sanctuaries are expected to double by at least 2020, possibly 2018.
The sanctuaries are linked below for more information:
There are 5 species of Kiwi Bird, these are:
- little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii) on several offshore islands and two mainland sanctuaries
- great spotted kiwi/roroa (A. haastii) in the northwestern South Island and around Arthur’s Pass
- brown kiwi (A. mantelli) in the North Island
- rowi (A. rowi) at Okarito, on the West Coast of the South Island
- tokoeka (A. australis) in the South Island (Fiordland, the Haast Range and Rakiura (Stewart Island)
Sadly the Kiwi bird is in fear of following the same path as the great Dodo and Woolly Mammoth. We want to change this for New Zealand’s Icon before it’s too late.
If you wish to donate to this cause, please visit Kiwi’s for kiwi
If you are unable to donate, all is not lost! You can still help this great cause by signing up to Old Mout Cider who will donate 20p per sign up (so far they’ve had 7391 sign ups) but still need more people to get aboard. Old Mout Cider are a New Zealand Cider, born in 1947 and are also on the mission to help the little fella’s out, lets come together and save these little guys.
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