Tawharanui Open Sanctuary

Auckland Regional Council - Back on the mainland!

Kiwi are roaming Auckland peninsula again. Council rangers are at the forefront of resettlement efforts.

It’s been 60 years since kiwi roamed mainland Auckland, but in November 2006, thanks to the assistance of Auckland Regional Council, they have made a return.

The council has worked in partnership with the Department of Conservation (DoC), the Kiwi Recovery Programme and Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society (TOSSI) in its effort to resettle 15 young kiwi into the open sanctuary at Tawharanui Regional Park.

It’s been a long, but rewarding process. Council rangers first initiated the programme in 2000, and since then they have worked with other council staff, such as their heritage scientists and technical support team, and many other interested organisations.

It began with a programme called Operation Nest Egg. The eggs were collected from their natural habitat in Northland and then hatched at the Auckland City Council zoo. From there, the hatchlings were transferred to their “creche” at DoC’s Motuora Island sanctuary, where they grew after a year to be about a kilogram in weight. They were then ready to be released onto the new “mainland island” at Tawharanui.

Even before the eggs were first taken from Northland, however, many of the council’s 70 rangers were working on ensuring Tawharanui Open Sanctuary was cleared of predators. At 588 hectares, the council-owned Tawharanui Regional Park is the largest on Auckland’s east coast, and lies on a peninsula, making it ideal for bird sanctuary.

Contractors built a fence on its land border, and council staff and volunteers ran a trapping and baiting programme, which systematically eradicated pests such as stoats, ferrets, rats and possums.

“The park is ideal because it’s bounded on three sides by the sea,” says principal ranger Mathew Vujcich. “That makes it relatively easy to protect from predators.”

Progress of the kiwi progress is monitored by the rangers, ably assisted by TOSSI, with which the regional council has a memorandum of understanding.

“The TOSSI people are great. They are able to keep an almost daily eye on what’s happening. We just can’t do that ourselves.”
Mathew says the kiwi are doing well, with the expectation that they will breed and further populate the area.

Council natural heritage scientist Tim Lovegrove says new daytime roosts have been found across the whole park.
“The kiwi appear to be travelling quite a distance and exploring their new surroundings,” he says.

It is hoped that Tawharanui will be not only a safe refuge for kiwi, but also a breeding “nursery” from where the kiwi can be restored to other safe havens throughout their former range.

With its strong environmental focus, the regional council is already planning to introduce more kiwi into the park, along with other native species such as North Island robins, white heads, geckos and shore skinks.

Who is involved: Council rangers ecological scientists communications etc.