Ōtorohanga Kiwi House Charitable Trust board chair Kim Ingham, left, with interim general manager Richard Spittle.
Ōtorohanga Kiwi House is under new management.
Richard Spittle has been appointed interim manager after the departure of Jo Russell who managed the Alex Telfer Drive attraction for about 10 years.
Russell told The News she had resigned in order to spend more time caring for her family.
“It’s time for me to have a break, and spend some time with my family,” Russell said.
“Ten years is a long time to be in any organisation, but I will still support the Kiwi House in any way that I can.”
Spittle, a former ASB Bank North Island rural banking regional manager, will manage the attraction on a 20-hour per week contract while the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House Charitable Trust board, chaired by Kim Ingham, searches for a permanent replacement for Russell.
“Jo had an incredible depth of knowledge around the animals, the high-level possibilities for the park redevelopment, and an impeccable loyalty for the organisation,” Ingham said.
“She will be incredibly hard to replace, but we are working through that process now. The kiwi house was definitely Jo’s passion as well as her job and there could be some opportunity to support us as an ambassador,” Spittle said.
“She would be a wonderful advocate. We are looking to continue to develop the park to provide a really good visitor experience.”
That included a focus on professional development for keepers, including five part time Ōtorohanga College students, led by wildlife manager Mat Ronaldson.
The Kiwi House employs the equivalent of 13 full time staff.
There are plans to open an Animal Nutrition and Enrichment Centre in July, allowing visitors a chance to see staff preparing food and engaging with animals. At its heart is a commercial kitchen that can pivot to community use in a Civil Defence emergency.
Spittle said the Kiwi House will have attracted just over 50,000 visitors this season, around 85 per cent of which come from overseas.
“There’s certainly the ability to target 80,000,” Spittle said.
“Then the park will feed on itself.”
The park’s kiwi breeding programme has been particularly successful since the park opened in 1971. Kiwi Anahera alone has mothered 60 chicks.
The park has 15 kiwi, 10 eastern brown, three western brown and two northern brown.
Its Mahoenui giant weta breeding programme has also been a huge success with 430 weta bred and 120 released into the wild.
