Rescue chick set to be wild heartbreaker
The Dominion Post | Monday, 01 December 2008WELCOME HOME: Hupai the western brown kiwi returns to the forest she was plucked from as an egg.
As a young fluffy chick, she stole hearts. Now as a teen, she's off into the world to find someone to give her heart to.
Hupai - the 1000th kiwi born under a rescue programme run by Save the Kiwi Trust - was released into Waimarino Forest, near Whanganui National Park, yesterday.
Since her birth in February, Hupai - who was plucked as an egg from the same forest she will call home - has enjoyed life at a predator-proof restoration site, affectionately known as a creche.
BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust executive director Michelle Impey has called her move a milestone for the programme that has been running since 1994.
"Hupai's release into the wild is cause for celebration ... she now has a 65 per cent chance of survival compared to just five per cent if she was left unaided as a chick in the wild."
The western brown kiwi could lay up to 100 eggs in her lifetime so her survival makes a "big difference" to future populations, Ms Impey said. "In a couple of years, we hope she finds a mate."
About 100 people attended Hupai's release, including local iwi.
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