-
The Topp Twins - Source: Close Up -
Related
Iconic New Zealand entertainers the Topp Twins have lent their support to the country's most endangered species of kiwi.
Jools and Lynda Topp, who are as Kiwi as they come, will be raising funds for the rowi kiwi and highlighting the birds' plight at their Summer Hoe-Down concert in Blenheim tomorrow.
Department of Conservation rowi project manager Jim Livingstone said the birds needed all the help they could get, having been on the brink of extinction and with only one natural population remaining.
"Rowi have been on the brink of extinction, with only one natural population remaining - in Okarito on the West Coast - so they need all the help we can give them."
Livingstone said they were thrilled to have the support of the Topp Twins.
Stoats are the rowi's number one enemy as they eat their eggs and chicks, but habitat loss, roads, possums, rats and dogs have also been contributing factors in the population decline.
However, DOC, with the support of the BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust, is gradually turning rowi fortunes around using BNZ Operation Nest Egg.
This involves moving eggs and chicks to predator-free locations where they can grow large enough to defend themselves before being returned to the wild.
