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Photo of Jon Williams (project co-manager), Lee and Garrod children walking to return Pita

Thursday 10 October 2013

Press release

Pita Pocket to be reunited with her rescuer at her homecoming

Paul and Lee Sayers didn’t expect to change the outcome for New Zealand’s national icon when they awoke on Sunday 24 March 2013.  The Whitianga couple happened upon a disheveled young kiwi chick as they drove along the state highway from Whitianga to Kuaotunu.  Weighing only 185g, with a damaged bill, dehydrated and starving, the wee kiwi wasn’t in great shape when rescued.

A local builder and businessman, rescuers Paul and wife Lee described the size of the chick as a ‘large grapefruit’ when they contacted local kiwi conservation group Project Kiwi.  Its size was then upgraded to a ‘pita bread pocket’ once the Kuaotunu based group had arranged for its transport to the Kiwi Encounter facility in Rotorua for rearing in a predator-free environment.

Aptly named ‘Pita Pocket’, the kiwi chick has been nurtured and cared for by Kiwi Encounter staff over the past 6 months and she is now deemed healthy, fit and strong for release back into the wild.  She will be reunited with her rescuers Paul and Lee who have been given the opportunity to transport her home and release her back into the wild.  Lee was thrilled, “What an icing on the cake story.  To think we’ve lived here all these years, we’ve raised our kids here and now we have our own kiwi story!  It’s just so cool that it was us.”  This mini-break for the Sayers, includes the donation of one nights accommodation at Novotel Rotorua Lakeside, a tour of Pita’s captive-rearing facility, Kiwi Encounter and dinner at Luke’s Kitchen, Kuaotunu.

Project Kiwi will facilitate Pita Pocket’s homecoming and protect her by trapping for her predators as she adapts back into life on the Kuaotunu Peninsula.   Here, along with an estimated 600 kiwi she is hoped to live a long life safe from predators – including highway traffic!

Project Kiwi project co-manager Paula Williams says, “We are thrilled to welcome Pita Pocket back to her home.  The Coromandel Brown Kiwi are taonga for all who live here and the adventures of Pita are a spontaneous opportunity to advocate the longevity and sustained presence of kiwi on the Peninsula. “

Celebrating almost 20 years of success, the Project Kiwi Trust is New Zealand’s first community kiwi conservation initiative.  Much of what kiwi conservationists nationwide know about the trapping of predators and monitoring of kiwi has been developed and refined by the Project Kiwi Trust.

To find out more about the Project Kiwi Trust, visit www.projectkiwi.co.nz
or www.facebook.com/projectkiwitrust

Tags: kiwi