Tokoeka kiwi chick
Image:
Belle Gwilliam
| DOC
The Fiordland Kiwi Diaries
Introduction
Watch the Fiordland Kiwi Diaries exclusive miniseries and learn about the work to save the Fiordland tokoeka.Down in the remote wilderness of Fiordland, kiwi are in trouble. Over three years, DOC rangers monitored 34 chicks in the rugged Shy Lake area. Not a single one survived. Most were killed by stoats.
For the population to stand a chance, kiwi chicks need time to reach safe weight. The Shy Lake area is rough, remote, vast and wet, making trapping here impossible. Without large-scale control, stoat and rat numbers grow rapidly, endangering kiwi survival.
In 2020, we aerially applied 1080 bait in the area for the first time to knock back introduced predators and buy time for kiwi to grow.
Fiordland Kiwi Diaries brings you along with the rangers as they monitor the operation results, giving their all every day to save vulnerable chicks.