The Prime Minister welcomed eight new brown kiwis to a Northland farm yesterday and even named one after Prince George.
John Key joined Kaipara farmers Gill and Kevin Adshead in welcoming the kiwi to the Gardner family farm 65km north of Auckland.
Releasing the kiwi onto the sheep and cattle farm at Mataia marked a major step towards the Adshead's dream of establishing a self-sustaining kiwi population, on 10,000 hectares along the south eastern shore of the Kaipara Harbour.
So far the Adsheads are the first farmers to have released and bred kiwi on a working farm and Gill Adshed says it's been years of hard work and help from the community.
"We had to reduce the number of stoats, feral cats, rats and possums to a level where kiwi can live and breed on the farm," says Mrs Adshead.
The Adshead's vision of bringing 'kiwi back to the Kaipara' began in 2006 and they now have 22 Northland brown kiwi on their farm.
"Kiwi lived here in the past. With the help of our local community, schools and other enthusiastic supporters we are able to bring them back."
They now plant around 4000 native trees a year on the farm. Corridors of native bush and stream banks have also been fenced to protect the kiwi from the farm's cattle and sheep.
Mr Key named one of the kiwi, George, after Prince George who's in New Zealand with his parents Prince William and Duchess Catherine.
Source: ONE News
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