Kiwi Release in Whakatane, New Zealand - Arahi

During the afternoon of Thursday 20th January 2011 I had the pleasure of releasing a Kiwi into the bush area around Whakatane - the Kiwi Capital of New Zealand and NZ's Sunshine Capital. I was taken out by Bridget Evans and her helper Laura from the Department Of Conservation (DoC) - Whakatane Kiwi Project to release a male Kiwi named Arahi - which is Maori for "strong". I got to go as I had won the chance to release a Kiwi through a bidding auction held by the Whakatane Kiwi Trust through our local radio station 1XX (One Double X) on 31st July and 1st August 2010. Radio 1XX is also a sponsor of the Whakatane Kiwi Trust and I work at the station too and was a part of the 1XX Kiwi-athon broadcasts which we have done for the Whakatane Kiwi Trust in 2009 & 2010. It was quite a unique and special experience to hold this little flightless native bird of New Zealand - a rare thing for us to do here in New Zealand - and to release him into the bush. Arahi was the 126th Kiwi released in the bush area around Whakatane. More have been released since. For more on the Whakatane Kiwi Trust go to - http://www.whakatanekiwi.org.nz .

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Whakatane Kiwi Trust
• Arahi
• Kiwi Capital
• Sunshine Capital
• Kiwi Release
• Radio 1XX
• One Double X
• Department Of Conservation
• DoC
• Bay Of Plenty
• New Zealand
• nature

[azzabop]

Hi, thank you for your comments, glad you enjoyed the video. It was sort of a private release which I was privaliged to go to and thought i'd catch on tape and share with the world. Where did you come from to visit New Zealand? Did you visit Whakatane when you were here? Hope you get the chance to visit again and can visit Whakatane if you didn't before. Thanks for checking out the video.

[cslag]

I just returned from New Zealand, and although I did not have the privilege of seeing a Kiwi bird I did experience the Kiwi people. What a fantastic country, and what fantastic people. I loved every minute of the adventure. You were very fortunate to have held and released one of the rarest of birds. I wish I could have been there to witness the release.