Department of Conservation (DOC) rangers initially confirmed a single bird in the remote area. Now, they’ve found nine birds, including two breeding pairs.<\/p>\n
The discovery followed the revelation earlier this year that the species, thought to be extinct on mainland New Zealand for nearly 50 years, had survived on the West Coast. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
DOC biodiversity ranger Laurie Keller says finding the chicks was an unforgettable moment.<\/p>\n
“To see the two freshest kiwi pukupuku chicks is incredible \u2013 it’s very, very special,” she said.<\/p>\n
The chicks, each weighing less than 200 grams, were carefully transported across the South Island after a brief stop to meet members of Ng\u0101ti M\u0101haki, mana whenua for the region. Kara Edwards, Pou\u0101rahi of Te R\u016bnanga o Makaawhio, told 1News holding a chick was overwhelming.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/a-kiwi-pukupuku-chick-M5NUFAFSQVABLMNYTL5LZIO2ZM.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A kiwi pukupuku chick (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
“We feel incredibly lucky to have a precious taonga in our midst. Our goal is for them to thrive here,” she says.<\/p>\n
At Willowbank, kiwi husbandry officer Bethany Brett said the team is “buzzing” about the challenge ahead.<\/p>\n
“The fun that’s coming up is the adventure of using our knowledge as a team to get to the next stage.”<\/p>\n
As the smallest kiwi species, pukupuku are highly vulnerable to predators and take up to three years to reach a ‘stoat-safe’ weight. Raising chicks in a controlled environment was a proven strategy to boost survival rates.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kiwi-pukupuku-OD4VKEMCXZCKRL3WHZJEJEYW3E.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A Department of Conservation (DOC) officer holds a Kiwi pukupuku (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
DOC project lead Iain Graham said the rediscovery opened a new chapter for kiwi conservation.<\/p>\n
“We’ve now found nine individual birds in South Westland, including two sets of breeding pairs,” he said. “We’re expanding our search area and considering the best options for long-term conservation of this special population.”<\/p>\n
The work is supported by Willowbank Wildlife Reserve and Ng\u0101ti M\u0101haki, with DOC urging the public to help through donations to the New Zealand Nature Fund.<\/p>\n
For a species once thought lost to the mainland, the future suddenly looks brighter.<\/p>\n
“These chicks are just the start of a journey,” Keller said. <\/p>\n
“It’s a chance to learn about this smallest species of kiwi and secure a strong future for kiwi pukupuku.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two tiny little spotted kiwi chicks have given conservationists proof that a species thought extinct on mainland Aotearoa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,2929,75,128,6857,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-333442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-conservation","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-west-coast","14":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}