New kiwi settling in during August

Changes to our kiwi on display

Here at the National Aquarium of New Zealand, we are proud to be one of 14 participating institutions involved in the nationwide Kiwi captive management programme, coordinated and monitored by the Department of Conservation and Zoo Aquarium Association (ZAA) Australasia. From time to time, kiwi are transferred between institutions to support conservation outcomes that include increasing wild kiwi population numbers.

This month our kiwi, Mahina, is going to be relocated to the South Island to be paired for breeding. We will be sad to see her go, but know that she is moving to a wonderful facility at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch with experienced staff to continue to care for her. Once Mahina has been safely transferred, we will take the opportunity to complete some maintenance work in the space before introducing our new young kiwi named Koha.

Koha’s introduction to the exhibit, from Wednesday 28th July, means the viewing windows of our nocturnal house will be blocked out for approximately four weeks. This will be done to give Koha every chance to settle in peacefully and to thrive in his new habitat.

Kiwi Chats

To minimise the impact of this to our loyal visitors and Friends of the Aquarium members, we will be holding special Kiwi Chats by our guides three times a day, at 10.30am, 1pm and 3pm. Our Kiwi Chats will give you the chance to handle a range of exciting natural history specimens, have questions answered, as well as view a short informative video about kiwi, which will be running throughout the day.

We apologise for any inconvenience during this introduction period as we welcome Koha, and thank you for your continued support.

2 September 2021

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