#kiwi conservation

[hometoursandotherstuff]

The Kiwi Conservation Team at work.

Look at this good boi.

I had no idea they were this big.

[reasonsforhope]

"Two wild kiwi chicks were born near Wellington, New Zealand, about a year after a reintroduction program began in the city, the Capital Kiwi Project announced last week. The fluffy, brown babies are the first to be born near the country’s capital in at least 150 years. 

“This is very special for the team, which has been working hard for the last few years,” project founder Paul Ward tells the Agence France-Presse. The chicks are a “massive milestone for our goal of building a wild population of kiwi on Wellington’s back doorstep.”

These flightless, chicken-sized birds were once abundant across New Zealand, with the nation’s five species numbering an estimated 12 million individuals in total. But nonnative predators and habitat loss caused their populations to plummet. Today, approximately 68,000 kiwis remain....

Conservation and reintroduction programs, including the Capital Kiwi Project, have been working to restore a large-scale wild kiwi population for years. In 2022, the organization released 11 kiwis into the wild in Makara, a suburb about seven miles west of Wellington. Between February and May of 2023, another 52 birds were released, and 200 more are slated to be released over the next five years, reports Eva Corlett for the Guardian.

Along with reintroduction efforts, the project aimed to reduce threats from European stoats, also known as ermines. The mammals were brought to New Zealand in the 19th century in an attempt to eradicate another introduced creature: rabbits. But these weasel-like stoats are voracious predators and kill many of New Zealand’s native species, including kiwi chicks. Only about 5 percent of kiwi chicks survive to reach breeding age in areas where predators are not controlled, largely thanks to stoats. In areas under management, however, 50 to 60 percent survive. Knowing this, conservationists worked with 100 landowners across the bird’s 60,000-acre habitat to install 4,600 stoat traps.

Of the 63 adult kiwis now roaming the hilly farmlands of Makara, only about a quarter are being monitored—meaning more chicks will likely hatch in the near future. Conservationists will continue monitoring the two new chicks, though Ward tells the Guardian they still have a long way to go before they’re fully grown...

Over the years, the long-beaked birds have become a national symbol of New Zealand, with people who hail from the country often referred to as kiwis. The animals also hold special importance to the Māori people of New Zealand, who have cultural, spiritual and historic associations with the birds. Even the New Zealand dollar is sometimes referred to as the kiwi, and the bird is featured on the country’s dollar coin."

-via Smithsonian Magazine, December 6, 2023

[brookezilla]

Not fandom related but the Miami Zoo currently has one of my country’s national birds which they’re MISTREATING.

We’d like it back now luv x

If it was a bald eagle, y’all would be rioting in the streets.

[typhlonectes]

Kiwi chicks born in the wild in New Zealand’s capital for first time in over a century

Two kiwi chicks have been born in the wild in Wellington for the first time in over 150 years. The two chicks, which were born in Makara, a suburb that is 25 minutes away from the city centre, came a year after Capital Kiwi Project reintroduced the national bird to New Zealand’s capital. The flightless birds, including the additional 18 chicks that will be hatched as part of the project, will be monitored by transmitters, according to the project’s Instagram post...

Read more: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/kiwi-chicks-born-in-new-zealand-s-capital-for-first-time-in-over-a-century

[funnylittlecritters]

This kiwi bird is setting the record straight this Halloween! He's not the fuzzy fruit you put in your smoothie, but a real-life bird with a big personality!

fun fact: Kiwis are found only in New Zealand and are a national symbol of the country.

What do you think this kiwi's favorite Halloween candy would be?

[anqelbean]

do you ever just watch a queer youtuber talk and you're like. wow I am far too pro-kink to stand you.

[bwabbitv3s]

Wild Kiwis Born Near New Zealand's Capital for First Time in More Than 150 Years

After reintroduction to the area neat the capital the first Kiwi's have been born! This is a historic moment in the species recovery.

[daisylovesrumble]

petition: Kiwi Conservation Efforts in New Zealand Must Continue

The recent hatching of two kiwi chicks in Wellington, New Zealand, marks a monumental success in the country's conservation efforts. This breakthrough, a first in over a century in this region, is a testament to the dedicated work of conservationists. Their commitment to bringing back the kiwi, New Zealand's iconic national symbol, from the brink of extinction is a story of hope and resilience. However, this is just the beginning, and continued support and expansion of such conservation efforts are crucial.

[grandmagbignaturals]

Nice try sir but I think you'll find tumblr is not your demographic

[herpsandbirds]

do you have any birds from new zealand? :)

You bet I do!! - Avifauna of Aotearoa

Kea (Nestor notabilis), family Strigopidae, found on the South Island of New Zealand

ENDANGERED.

A few ornithologists place this genus in its own family, Nestoridae, but this has not been widely adopted by ornithologists.

photograph by mikullashbee

Kereru or New Zealand Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), family Columbidae, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

photograph by Yi Feng

Tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), family Meliphagidae, order Passeriformes, Waikawa, Marlborough, New Zealand

photograph by Sid Mosdell 

Kakapo aka Owl Parrot (Strigops habroptila), family Strigopidae, order Psittaciformes, New Zealand

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Photographs by the New Zealand Dept. of Conservation

Rifleman aka Titipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris), male, family Acanthisittidae, order Passeriformes, New Zealand

photograph by Mike Ashbee (@mikullashbee)

Okarito Kiwi (Apteryx rowi), chick, Apterygidae, order Apterygiformes, found in the Ōkārito forest on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island

VULNERABLE.

photographs by West Coast Wildlife Centre

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Hey uh I just found this out and I'm FURIOUS but miami zoo has a kiwi bird. Which is fine if they were doing what we do here and keeping it in a darkened enclosure with clear notices to be quiet and not bang on the glass. But instead this shy, solitary nocturnal bird is being kept in broad daylight and people are being allowed to pet it. NZ twitter is out for blood right now. https://twitter.com/zoomiami/status/1637864741954637824

…fucking yikes.

The kiwi I’ve seen in other AZA zoos have been kept according to the practices you describe: dark exhibit on a flipped light cycle, in a signed quiet area. What it looks like Zoo Miami is doing is… not good.

Here’s the link to their tweet with a video about the encounter (so it’ll embed):

The video shows a kiwi out of its exhibit: on a table in what looks like a back room with bright overhead fluorescent lighting. The kiwi has no room to move around and no place to hide as people pet it and reach around it to take selfies.

What do you pay to bother the kiwi four days a week - a species which in NZ is apparently illegal to touch without permission from the Department of Conservation? $25.

Obviously it just started and I don’t know anything more about it than what’s online, but even so, this is such a bad look for an AZA zoo, holy shit. I know a bunch of new ambassador animal rules just got promulgated… I wonder if this meets them. I’ll have to go do some reading. Also, USDA is now promulgating new bird rules (it didn’t regulate birds until just recently, only mammals) so this will also have to pass their muster soon.

The guy who runs Miami’s PR, and manages the animal media like the birth of their first kiwi chick in 2019, is known for big media stunts. I’m not surprised by this but I don’t think it’s going to go over well. There’s a lot of pressure on zoos to offer new encounters and programs to help make up for inflation and pandemic losses but this not how to do it.

I’d honestly suggest New Zealanders who are upset about this contact Zoo Miami formally (more than just on twitter) using the contact form on their website, and maybe even the AZA to express concerns about this program animal’s welfare - as well as the lack of cultural awareness at one of their accredited facilities.

Edited to add: a statement from Zoo Miami is supposed to be forthcoming tomorrow. I’ll update once we have it.

[mayasaura]

did you see te pati maori declared independence??

I DID NOT! Holy shit! Thanks for the news!

Okay, now reporting back from one research deep-dive, the recent context as I understand it is this:

Last November, a conservative right-wing Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, assumed office. He's got a lot of less than stellar right-wing policies, and that includes making cuts to the Ministry of Social Development and opposing co-governance with the Waitangi Tribunal and other Māori leadership organisations over the administering of public services such as education, health, and infrastructure. He's been openly critical of Māori seats in Parliament, though he hasn't (yet) opposed them. Over the course of his administration, there's been an initiative to omit or cut mentions of the Treaty of Waitangi, the foundational document of New Zealand that forms the basis of arguments for Māori protections, from official language.

Which brings us to yesterday, May 30th. Budget Day. The day the new administration would announce their first budget and a day of mass action for supporters of te Pāti Māori protesting the treatment of Māori under the new government. I don't have any concrete numbers, but RNZ reports thousands of protestors, while the NZ Herald estimates "tens of thousands" turning out nation-wide, and a walking protest that delayed rush-hour traffic in Auckland for hours.

You may have already guessed that the budget was Bad. As I understand it, the budget effectively cut any kind of targeted funding for Māori health or education, and decreased funding for Māori cultural festivals and celebrations. And again, I cannot stress enough how much I am not an expert on this topic, so there's probably a lot more in there I don't know about.

In response to the new budget, Māori Party MP Rawiri Waititi issued a Declaration of Independence to the New Zealand Parliament, (video of his speech in link) with the support of his fellow te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

There doesn't seem to be any concrete plan in place yet for the organisation of the new Māori parliament, but MPs Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer met with protestors to collect signatures for the Declaration, which they plan to bring to a hui taumata (meeting of congress) today, Friday, May 31st. The text of the Declaration can be found on te Pāti Māori website, in the form of a petition. You do not have to be Māori to sign, but I believe you do have to be kiwi.

[pale-fairytales]

Addendum to this; the same people pushing for this are the same people that are scared of vaccines because "they're going to put trackers in us to track our every move!"

If that's such a concern, why are you making it even easier? If you're so concerned about your own privacy, why are you advocating for other people to lose their privacy in an overt way? Simple; you lack the empathy necessary to ensure that the people in the United States will have their rights protected, that's why you took away women's bodily autonomy, that's why you're crusading against trans people, that's why you're gunning to get rid of marriage equality and expand the president's power.

You who are in power and pushing for KOSA (and those of you who are in support of Project 2025) are proud of the fact that you are leaving the people you're claiming to protect powerless because you just want to indoctrinate people to hate others. That's why you don't want people to be able to access information about the 8 genocides in the world, that's why you want to take away rights, you're heartless monsters. And you're scared that the American people that you're trying to keep down are going to rise up and gut you like the pigs you are.

And to be honest, you should be. But not in a literal sense. We're secure enough that we don't resort to violence to get our way like certain members of your party.

I don't really like to get political but I feel a need to talk about this;

It's so funny. It's so funny to me that the people pushing for KOSA also criticize other countries who do the exact same shit (i.e., China, which from what I've heard (and correct me if I'm wrong please) censors a lot of things) and hate their guts. The fact that they're pushing for censorship directly violates one of the amendments of the constitution (which is free speech) and it baffles me that they think this is okay. But hey these are also the same people that won't do anything about gun violence or school shootings and who want to take away bodily autonomy and gay/trans rights so why am I even surprised.

For the love of god, if you can, help stop KOSA. Not just for fandom purposes, but for the fact that it impacts people who want to transition, people who want/need abortions, it impacts a way that human beings can seek out human contact in an increasingly lonely world where things are growing bleak. Not only that, but the people who are suffering from genocide (8 FUCKING GENOCIDES IN THE WORLD BTW) may not be able to get help or get the word out about their condition if a big chunk of the world can't access the content that helps said people.

And I'm sorry, but if you really cared about children's safety, you a) would do more about school shootings, b) would fix issues that put children in danger (shockingly hunger/malnutrition is still an issue in the U.S.A. just not in the same way as in a war-torn country), c) would fix the foster-care/adoption system, and d) teach parents to have some common fucking sense not to have 5-year-olds on the internet watching age-inappropriate stuff (like 5 year olds listening to Sexxy Red or Ice Spice)

Censorship is bad. It's bad because it can genuinely put lives at risk. If you're for the KOSA bill, don't pretend like it's because you care. You don't care about people—you just want to control them. Just like the people you and its instigators hate so much.

[romirola]

Headcanons for the Shaw Pack's Stuffed Animal Pals

My recently posted fic House Call features a headcanon that Sweetheart has a stuffed zebra pal named Chester. In the fic, I mentioned that Sweetheart acquired the zebra as a souvenir when they, along with the rest of the pack, visited the Dahlia Zoo Gift Shop. @zozo-01 asked me which animal plushies the other character “adopted.” How could I not provide an answer to that wonderful question? Tagging @agentplutonium and @hades-disappointment-child because this is House Call bonus material.

David: A Silverback Gorilla (named Jupiter by Angel.)

Angel: A Kiwi Bird (named Fuzzi by Angel.)

Asher: A Manatee (named Oisín by Asher.)

Babe: An Aardvark (named Backhoe by Sweetheart.)

Milo: An African Painted Dog (named Prince by Asher.)

Sweetheart: A Zebra (named Chester by Sweetheart.)

Darling: A Pallas Cat (named Chomper by Sam.)

Sam: A Komodo Dragon (named QTπ by Darling.)

Excerpt of Chester's first appearance in the fic below the cut:

Without warning, Angel wiggled out of David’s grasp and scurried off into the bedroom, stepping ever so lightly as they sneaked past Sweetheart. Before David had the chance to ask, Angel emerged from the bedroom, holding a small stuffed zebra in their hand and holding it up in the air. David instantly recognized the plush as the one Sweetheart had purchased from the Dahlia Zoo Gift Shop. The outing had been, as Angel labeled it, a quadruple-date. Somehow, David, Angel, Asher, Babe, Milo, Sweetheart, Darling, and Sam had managed to all have a free day, and the alpha-mate had jumped at the opportunity to orchestrate the pack adventure, complete with a picnic lunch and ambassador animal encounters with a friendly three-toed sloth and a curious binturong. At the conclusion of the fun day, Angel had somehow persuaded everyone to select a plush animal buddy from the gift shop to remember the time all spent together (and give a sizable donation to the zoo’s conservation efforts.) Everyone had chosen a different animal, resulting in quite high-stakes decisions while shopping. Sweetheart, David recalled, selected the zebra as their new adopted pal. “For those extra comfy vibes,” Angel explained, tucking the soft zebra under Sweetheart's arm. Without stirring, Sweetheart clutched the zebra and brought it under their chin, nuzzling into its fur as they let out a contented groan.