New Zealand Travel Blog

Back last year we reported on the birth of Manukura, the world’s first white kiwi hatched in captivity. Well, it’s happened again, with a second all white kiwi chick hatching just before Christmas!

The happy event once more happened at Pukaha Mt Bruce’s national Wildlife Centre and on the photographic evidence I have to say that new arrival may be even cutier than Manakura. Once again, the perfect little chick has been named by local Maori iwi Rangitane o Wairarapa, Mauriora, meaning ‘sustained life’

“We were gob-smacked really,” said centre manager Kathy Houkamau. “While every kiwi is precious, to have a second white chick is a delightful gift, especially at this time of year. We thought Christmas had come early in May when Manukura arrived but now it’s come twice.”

Apparently, a small number of North Island brown kiwi carry a white gene, but a white chick only results if both male and female each carry the gene. In an area the size of Pukaha forest (940 hectares), having two white chicks born is nothing short of extraordinary. It is known that both chicks have the same father and it is suspected, the same mother also – so could more white kiwis be still to come?! Watch this space…

For those keen to catch sight of a white kiwi, Manakura the older sibling, is in permanent residence at the Kiwi House at Pukaha Mt Bruce – the perfect detour for those en route to Wellington.

It’s good to see that New Zealand’s most iconic species is fully embracing the brilliant 100% Pure marketing strategy and thereby helping to boost the profile of kiwi recovery programmes and the like throughout NZ. Nice!

Mark Carwardine recently searched for the ‘Small Five’ when visiting New Zealand – ‘the land of the long white cloud’. The ‘Small Five’ trip enabled Mark to witness a group of charming rare and endangered wildlife consisting of the Tuatara, described as a living fossil, Hectors dolphin the smallest of its species, the notoriously cheeky Kea, a beautiful yellow eyed penguin and the iconic New Zealand Kiwi!

His first stop was a tiny island with a big secret, just off the coast of Auckland called Tiritiri Matangi. Home to the reptile Tuatara, Mark had a close encounter with the creature, following a successful stumble in the dark!

Next up was Hectors dolphin, the smallest and rarest marine dolphin in the world.

Mark’s third sighting was the Kea parrot, who took a liking to Mark’s car at a spectacular mountain overlook, just outside Arthur’s Pass in the heart of the Southern Alps. He had this to say about the encounter: “A gang of five kea landed on the roof and bonnet of the car intent on doing their best to cause mischief.”

Fourth was the beautiful yellow-eyed penguin where he had wonderful close encounters with the penguins at the appropriately named Penguin Place near Dunedin, which has a unique system of hides, tunnels and covered walkways to view the birds up-close.

Finally to see the infamous but elusive Kiwi, Mark visited Stewart Island in the south of the island. Finding one in the middle of the night, he “crept up to it, lay down on the grass and realised that it was no more than a foot in front of his face”, wow!

In a couple of weeks Mark had covered all of the small five, not forgetting the many other unique and interesting other animals he sighted along the way. The trip was a huge success and had some wonderfully memorable experiences. If you would like to follow in his footsteps you can find out more about the 18-day self-drive holiday, New Zealand’s ‘small five’ safari here.  

Mark Carwardine is a Zoologist, author, photographer, conservationist and TV presenter.