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Source: ONE News -
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The Kiwi population has received a major boost with a record number of chicks hatched in one year under a life-saving programme.
With the help of BNZ Operation Nest Egg, 226 eggs have successfully hatched at the five kiwi breeding facilities.
At the Rotorua's Kiwi Encounter centre, the largest breeding facility in the country, 139 eggs hatched in 2009-2010, compared to only one in 1994.
BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust executive director Michelle Impey says the record result of hatches was due to an increase in volunteer groups, and improvements in breeding and monitoring.
"Thousands of hours of work have been put in by community volunteers, staff and Department of Conservation workers around the country to get this record result. It is truly a nationwide team effort with all organisations involved."
BNZ Operation Nest Egg is a programme under Save the Kiwi Trust, which was established in November 2002 by Bank of New Zealand, Department of Conservation, and Forest & Bird.
The programme works on keeping chicks safe during vulnerable times.
Kiwi eggs or young chicks are collected from burrows in the wild and transferred to facilities, where they are raised until old enough to look after themselves.
Once they weigh around one kilogram, big enough to fight predators, they are returned to their home in the bush.
More than 1200 kiwi chicks have been returned to the wild since the programme began in 1994.
