\u201cThat\u2019s a broad-daylight experience nobody else on the planet gets … doesn\u2019t get any more Rakiura than that,\u201d said one commenter.<\/p>\n
Others described the image as \u201cphoto of the year\u201d and \u201cthe best photo ever\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many commenters noted how unusual it was to see a kiwi out and about during the day, given the bird\u2019s largely nocturnal habits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow, never seen a kiwi out of the zoo,\u201d wrote one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lived in New Zealand 60-somewhat years and even went to Stewart Island and still haven\u2019t seen a damn kiwi,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
Several visitors to Rakiura admitted they were jealous and one described Stewart Island as \u201cstill one of New Zealand\u2019s best kept secrets\u201d.<\/p>\n
For the three children in the photograph, however, it was apparently just another morning on the school run. <\/p>\n
While kiwi may be rare throughout much of New Zealand, they are a common sight on islands without the same predators as the mainland.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, two kiwi were filmed kicking and battering each other in a rare wildlife encounter – something experts said was a sign of conservation success.<\/p>\n
The footage, reportedly captured on predator-free Ulva Island, just off Stewart Island\/Rakiura, shows two adult kiwi locked in a physical confrontation, striking each other with their powerful legs and claws.<\/p>\n
Ulva Island Ferry & Water-Taxi posted the video on social media, saying a guest sent it to them.<\/p>\n
Department of Conservation principal ranger for biodiversity Kev Carter, speaking from Stewart Island, agreed, describing the confrontation as \u201ca bit of a turf war\u201d during breeding season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll more vigorously defend their territories at that time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter said Ulva Island\u2019s kiwi population was likely close to carrying capacity, meaning the island might already be supporting about as many kiwi as it can.<\/p>\n
Carter said kiwi were thriving on the island because it remained pest-free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThat\u2019s a broad-daylight experience nobody else on the planet gets … doesn\u2019t get any more Rakiura than that,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[28358,13633,1061,26225,283893,1445,78,71010,2514,194,3025,111,43,139,69,90,8145,4062,9636,6934,3946,34890,102,80],"class_list":["post-576603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alongside","tag-catching","tag-children","tag-daylight","tag-dodging","tag-friends","tag-in","tag-involves","tag-island","tag-kiwi","tag-most","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-run","tag-school","tag-spotted","tag-stewart","tag-traffic","tag-walk","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}