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| Overview |
| A 500-Year Project |
| Pest Eradication |
| Forest Restoration |
| Forest Fauna |
| Forest Flora |
| Wetland Restoration |
| Wetland Fauna |
| Wetland Flora |
| Wildlife Releases |
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Experience the Little Spotted Kiwi / Kiwi-pukupuku
(Apteryx owenii)
Restoration 
Visitor Experience Facts
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| Kiwi pukupuku |
Kiwi Pukupuku News
- Dec 2004: Jackson, our very productive kiwi-pukupuku dad, is sitting on an egg, he and his mate's fifth since their release in July 2000. The egg is expected to hatch around Christmas - a most appropriate Christmas present for the Sanctuary!
- Visitors on nocturnal tours will often hear kiwi calling in the valley.
- Some visitors on nocturnal tours have also seen kiwi.
Springboks versus Kiwi (July 2004)
A South African tourist not only saw a kiwi, but accidently kicked it as it rushed across the track right under his feet. When it reached the undergrowth, the kiwi started probing the leaf letter seemingly oblivious to the group's presence less than a metre away. It continued feeding for about 30 seconds before slowly ambling away down the bank. The visitors from South Africa were ecstatic and intended to write home using the heading "Springbok supporter kicks Kiwi ****!"
Lizard searcher encounters kiwi kick-boxers (March 2004)
Dr Colin Miskelly, while searching for lizards at the lower reservoir, encountered two kiwi fighting in the square concrete recess at the intersection of the Lake Road and Valley View track. The kiwi were engaged in a kicking frenzy. Colin turned off his light and lay on the opposite side of the road to watch. Although there was bright moonlight, the cavity interior was dark, the void filled by thumping and snorting. When both birds tumbled out, he turned on his light and watched as the kiwi continued fighting as they progressed up the bank behind the hole. Colin noted the bands, and the kiwi were subsequently identified as two territorial males.
Seeing Kiwi-pukupuku
Many people visiting the valley are hopeful of seeing and hearing the birds, forgetting that they are nocturnal and sleep during the day. The Sanctuary does not have a Kiwi House or aviaries for any of the re-introduced birds. Its policy is for all birds to exist in as natural a state as possible, with a minimum of intervention in special cases. For example, the provision of nesting boxes for the saddleback and kaka and supplementary feeding stations for bellbird, kaka and brown teal.
For other visitors just the knowledge that being in a valley where at any time there may be a kiwi asleep and snug in its burrow or under a fallen log just metres from where you are walking on a track is a magical experience.
Although we don’t have accurate data on numbers, it is likely that there are well over 50 birds in the valley as of August 2004. One pair near the entrance, monitored since 2000, has produced 3 young – 1 each year!
Kiwi-pukupuku are widely dispersed and can be heard throughout the valley. They can also be heard from homes around the perimeter fence in Brooklyn, Karori and Highbury.
- When is a kiwi not a kiwi? A story by Heather Campbell Hapeta about her nocturnal visit to the Sanctuary.
Nocturnal Tours
In October 2001 a programme of Nocturnal Walks began. These walks begin half an hour before dark to take advantage of the evening chorus, hear weka call and watch the shags fly in to roost. Walkers head for the Top Dam and arrive there just after dark when the kiwi begin calling. Many evenings, walkers will hear a number of calls and some have an encounter with a kiwi somewhere along the track. The tour returns to the Visitor Centre via glow-worm glades along the Beech and Te Mahanga Tracks.
More Information
- Suggested readings from our bookshop:
- For more information about the recovery of kiwi in New Zealand, see the Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery project.
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