Conservation Trust

ChristchurchJobs.co.nz works with the New Zealand Conservation Trust our aim is to raise money to help protect the endangered Southern Island Kiwi Bird and raise awareness of the Conservation Programme. You can visit the Breeding centre at Willowbank.

The New Zealand Conservation Trust is a non-profit organisation. Our objectives are educators, breeders and conservators of rare endangered native species of animals and birds of New Zealand. Our main focus being the Kiwi.

We work in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

Our purposefully built Kiwi breeding centre is the only one in New Zealand that is involved in breeding 4 different Kiwi species and the only one breeding South Island Kiwi.

Did you know? Most Kiwi species are on the endangered or highly endangered list, with 95% of kiwi chicks being predated before they reach 6 months old.

The New Zealand Conservation Trust is involved in breeding the Okarito Rowi and Haast Tokoeka Kiwi each having populations of only 300 in the wild. We are also breed Canterbury’s only Kiwi species, the Great Spotted Kiwi, whose numbers are unknown but are thought to be declining at 2%p.a.

Eggs are brought to our facility by DoC. Staff of the NZ Conservation Trust and Willowbank place these eggs into individual incubators. Each egg is turned 4 times a day and candled and weighed.

Once the chick hatches, there is constant cleaning, feeding and weighing. A number of medical issues can arise which will entail medicating the chick as well as constant care.

After a period of about 1 month the chicks will leave our facility and are then taken to different predator free islands or inland crèche sites.

The chicks will remain there until they are large enough to protect themselves from their numerous predators, whereby they are taken back to the wild, where the eggs were initially removed.

This whole process takes approximately 1 yr. The cost of saving one chick from predation is enormous.

The NZ Conservation Trust receives no government help and relies completely on donations and various fundraising efforts.

The Trust welcomes any form of help that you are able to give us. Please visit our web site:
www.nzconservationtrust.org.nz for further information.