OKT and Zespri: Partners in Restoring Ōtanewainuku’s Kiwi Population
Did you know that our generous friends at Zespri International have sponsored our kiwi programme for the past six years? Our kiwi team is entirely comprised of dedicated OKT volunteers, who devote countless hours of their valuable time (in sometimes less than optimal conditions!) to the mission of restoring a healthy, flourishing and genetically sustainable population of North Island Brown Kiwi in the Ōtanewainuku Conservation Area. The Trust wouldn’t be able to do this work without their mahi but they also need the right tools for the job!
And, that’s where Zespri’s continued support has been absolutely invaluable to our organisation. Their committed, long-term financial support ensures that we can cover kiwi programme costs as the needs arise. While some of those costs are predicatable and recurring (like transmitter replacements), at other times we need to take action in a hurry (like when Toddy makes a run for the hills and we need a helicopter to help track him down!). Knowing that Zespri is there to support us financially means we can absolutely focus on caring for those precious kiwi as best we can. Our Zespri partnership means the world to us….and to our kiwi!
The team at Zespri love to follow the stories of individual kiwi and have chosen the names of several OKT chicks along their journey with us. This year, they chose Kobe and Jack as names; Kobe is a reference to a key Zespri port in Japan and Jack was named after a much-loved Zespri employee and supporter of OKT, Jacqueline “Jack” Abbot, who passed away in 2018. Kobe and Jack hatched in December 2023, under the watchful eye of the team at the National Kiwi Hatchery in Rotorua. They’re the tenth and eleventh Ōtanewainuku “kids” for our distinguished couple Tahi and Marama. On the morning of 9 March, Sheryl and Andrew picked Kobe and Jack up from the hatchery and ensured their safe passage to their new home, OKT’s kiwi creche at Warrenheip in the Waikato. We were fortunate to be able to welcome a team from Zespri at the creche and shared some information about the Trust and our kiwi programme with them before introducing them to Kobe and Jack. With their new transmitters attached and checked, both birds quickly tucked into new burrows and are now settling in at the creche. They’ll spend a year to 18 months there, gaining both weight and maturity in a predator-controlled environment, before returning to Ōtanewainuku. Both the kiwi team and the Zespri crew had a great morning and it was extra special to be able to be able to introduce some of Jack’s former colleagues to her namesake.
With Kobe and Jack safely esconced in their new home, the next task for the kiwi team was to transport Eve from the creche to Ōtanewainuku. Eve is a sibling to Kobe and Jack, being Tahi and Marama’s sixth Ōtanewainuku chick (she was born in September 2022). Now 18 months of age and weighing more than 2.2kg, the time had come to introduce her to her forever home. Eve was also a Zespri-named bird, this time named by EVES Real Estate who won the opportunity to name a kiwi at a Zespri Charity Auction. It was our pleasure to have a team from EVES and a couple of Zespri reps join us to walk Eve into the Ōtanewainuku ngahere. After a short briefing, we carefully carried Eve on a short walk down line 3A31 and followed the ridge line into prime kiwi habitat. We watched as Andrew and Sheryl carefully attached her new transmitter and then, in a matter of seconds, saw a very healthy looking Eve quickly tuck herself in to her new home. We’ve all got our fingers crossed that Eve takes a shining to one of the nearby bachelors and Sheryl’s matchmaking service will soon have another success story! The kiwi team will monitor Eve as she settles into her new territory and, hopefully, finds a suitor.
Thank you to all those from Zespri and EVES for joining us as we took care of these precious manu. We absolutely loved sharing their magic with you!
All of us at OKT would like to extend an extra special thank you to the whole team at Zespri. We’re so proud to partner with you and your ongoing sponsorship of our kiwi programme means the world to us.