Mat Ronaldson shows off Tikanga at the opening of the new wing at the Kiwi House on Saturday. Photos Sigrid Christiansen
Sigrid Christiansen
Giant wētā stole the show at the opening of the new Kiwi House wing on Saturday – but they weren’t the only stars.
Wildlife manager Mat Ronaldson also showed off Tikanga the kiwi.
She was hatched from the last egg laid in Ōtorohanga by bird matriarch Anahera and her partner Nouveau.
Tikanga was artificially incubated so her parents could be released her parents to be released in Wellington, in late 2022.
The young North Island Brown is a year and five months old this year – and Kiwi House manager Jo Russell and Mat are already “working on finding her a boyfriend.”
What’s Tikanga like? Jo and Mat said she has an interesting lightness of feather – more of a caramel than a dark brown. Anahera’s colouring was similar, they said.
And like mum, she’s a friendly little thing.
“When we used to check in the morning, the outdoor birds would lift the lid of their nest box. Tikanga would always stick her head up and have a look at who was doing the check,” Mat said.
At Saturday’s opening, Tikanga didn’t enjoy being lifted – and Kiwi House staff say that’s because every effort is made to make sure the birds are still “technically wild.”
“We do as little intervention as possible,” Jo said.
“We want them to be tough on release”
Both of Tikanga’s parents are “doing great – they have put on weight on release and are feeding well.
Anahera has already laid another egg, which was incubated by dad and hatched, but without a transmitter.
Why is that? Jo said transmitters are only put on the birds which had been recently released. The new kiwi hatched from Anahera’s eggs will be completely wild.
And Anahera herself also does not wear a transmitter.
“It’s a hard thing to let go of your animals – transmitters are quite costly, and you only have them on the birds for a purpose. If they are thriving – there is no need,” Jo said.
“All they need from us is predator control, to ensure they’ve got a safe area to rear their young.”
After Anahera laid the egg that was to become Tikanga, the 42-year-old kiwi who was the first bird in the Kiwi House programme in 1980 was released near Wellington.
Many off her other offspring have been released to the wild or have populated kiwi sanctuaries in the Waikato and Taranaki area.
