Kiwi: It’s a bird, it’s a plane… a cat?
History and Environment:
The Kiwi has one of the most interesting taxonomic histories to date on this show. They have been classified and reclassified a total of 5 different times since their initial classification in 1813. Originally classified in the order Haeckel, the family Grey, and the Genus Shaw. It went through 3 genus re-classifications, being classified Pseudapteryx in 1891, Stictapteryx in 1926, and Kiwi in 1960. In 2013 it was discovered they were more closely related to the extinct elephant bird than the previously thought Moa bird. Thus the Kiwis was re-classified once again to the Order Apterygiformes, the Family Apterygidae, and the Genus Apteryx. Talk about an identity crisis!
The kiwi is found in New Zealand. It is immensely adaptable. Its habitat covers all of New Zealand. From the native forest and scrub lands to rough farmlands and plantation forests. They are found in the sand dunes, snowy tussocks, which is a low alpine zone, and even mangroves. They like stands of trees that run down to rivers and include pockets of wetland vegetation.
Current Status:
The Kiwi population is only threatened with roughly 75,000 birds left on the island but the locals are very, very protective of these birds. However we are unfortunately still allowing them to be killed as the introduction of mammals such as Cats, Dogs, weasels, rats, etc. have began preying on the chicks of Kiwis sky rocketing chick mortality to 95%. That means of the 100 eggs a kiwi can lay in their lifetime only 5 grow up to have a chance to reproduce. Soooo not endangered, but not thriving either.
Thankfully New Zealand is protecting the habitats of the kiwi. A major threat to to the kiwi is still habitat , however. There are major penalties for illegal destruction of the kiwi habitats. There are 5 kiwi sanctuaries across New Zealand. 3 are in the North Island and 2 are in the South Island. These sanctuaries focus on protection and increasing numbers.
And Then Humans:
It’s pretty obvious what humans did, we introduced mammals into the Kiwis habitat. Kiwis evolved without any natural mammalian predators so their ability to ward off mammals is non-existent. So yeah we definitely did bad with this one.
I am happy to say we, and by we I mean New Zealanders, are making huge strides to help these birds. Historic deforestation was the major threat to the kiwi. Now their major threat lies within the invasive mammalian predators. Let’s talk about the sanctuaries. The 3 in the North Island: Whangarei – focused on the Northland Brown Kiwi, Moehau – focused on the Coromandel Brown Kiwi, and the Tongariro, focused on the Western Brown Kiwi. The 2 in the South Island: Okarito and Haast. These sanctuaries are the future of the kiwi.
Oops! I Can Fix That!
The obvious thing we need to do is get a handle on these invasive mammals, I’m willing to bet that they are a problem for more animals than just Kiwis. So if we can start some population control and maybe some permeant relocation then I think we cam quickly and effectively save the kiwi.
As always there is more we as humans can do. New Zealand has made huge strides to protect the kiwi. Stopping further destruction of the kiwi’s habitats can increase their numbers and return the kiwi to thriving.