The artificial incubation of wild laid kiwi eggs – a

conservation tool

Suzanne Bassett1 & Claire Travers2

2Kiwi Encounter, Rainbow Springs, Rotorua, New Zealand

1Oralis Limited, Dunedin, New Zealand

J. Newman

Acknowledgements• Department of Conservation & all

community trust kiwi projects

• Kiwi Encounter, Rainbow Springs, Rotorua

• Massey University & University of Otago

• Dr Trevor Kelly, Vet Centre, Rotorua

Talk outline

• Kiwi biology• Kiwi decline & threats• Operation Nest Egg• Incubation challenges• Ethical considerations• Kiwi welfare• Summary

Ratites

• Kiwi• Cassowary• Emu• Ostrich• Rhea• Moa• Elephant birdM. Potter

Taxonomy • North Island brown kiwi

(Apteryx mantelli)

• Okarito brown kiwi (Apteryx rowi)

• Southern tokoeka (Apteryx australis)

• Haast tokoeka (Apteryx australis ‘’Haast’)

• Great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haastii)

• Little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii)

R. M

orris

R. Morris

Kiwi abundance & distribution

Depart

ment

of

Conse

rvati

on

• North Island brown kiwi (25,000)

• Great spotted kiwi (17,000)

• Okarito brown kiwi (250)

• Southern tokoeka (15,000)

• Haast tokoeka (300)

• Little spotted kiwi (1,500)

The kiwi egg & chick

• Egg large relative to body size (20%) (~440 g)

• 1 functional oviduct, 2 functional ovaries

• 2 eggs/clutch, 2-3 clutches/yr (NIBK)1 egg/1 clutch/yr (SI sp)

• High fertility (NIBK)Low fertility (SI sp)

• Male incubation, length ~85 d wild, 78 d art inc

• Highly precocial chicks (~320 g hatch weight)

Otorohanga Zoological Society

Kiwi decline

• All kiwi are endangered

• Adult mortality ranges 5 – 16%/yr- Predators cause 28% mortality

• 50% eggs failed to hatch–10% due to predators

• Rate of decline 6%/yr(McLennan et al . 1996)

Kiwi Encounter

Juvenile kiwi mortality• Juvenile kiwi mortality

94%– Introduced

mustelids kill 77%

• Main predator = STOATS (Mustela erminea)

• Predation declines as chicks grow

Forest & Bird

Tui De Roy

Management responses• Habitat protection

–Public lands – Department of Conservation

–Private lands – Landcare Trust, QE2 Trust, Community programs

• Predator Control- Poisoning, trapping and exclusion fencing of mammalian predators

• Direct management of Kiwi–Captive rearing of wild-laid eggs & chicks (Operation Nest Egg – ONE)

G.L. Blackwell

Department of Conservation

Operation Nest Egg

Kiwi eggs & chicks removed from the wild

Taken to a captive rearing institute for incubation,

hatching & rearing

Chicks raised until 800 g+ & released to wild

Chicks released in predator free area

O.N.E a short term measure to ‘buy time’

Management & animal welfare

• Habitat protection – few ethical issues

• Predator Control- On conservation estate DOC does not require AEC approval for “regular & routine” animal control under Section 5, sub-sect 3a, b, c of Animal Welfare Act 1999

• Direct management of Kiwi–Administered by DOC–ONE also considered “regular & routine” captive management under Animal Welfare Act 1999

Kiwi Encounter

• 1995/96: (1 egg) 2007/08 (171 eggs)

• Egg age 0 – 75 days (2005/06 median 38 days)

• 910 eggs to end of 07/08, 667 eggs viable, 623 chicks released to date

• Forced draft artificial incubation

• Focus on North Island brown kiwi

Kiw

i E

nco

unte

r

Incubation challenges

High hatch success but…

• Cracked eggs • Embryo mortality• Malpositioned chicks

assisted hatchesS. Bassett & KE

Egg results 2007/08

• 120/171 eggs incubated(70 % eggs viable)

• 106/120 chicks hatched (88 % hatch success)

• 1000th ONE chickS Bassett

Waikato Times

General conclusions

• Improvements in O.N.E- hatch success

(40 % to 90+ %)- chick survivorship

pre-release 60 % to 95 %post-release 80+ %

• New techniques: x-rays, advances in candling & incubation, chick rearing and release protocols

Kiw

i E

nco

unte

r

T. K

elly

Kiwi Encounter & animal welfare

• O.N.E

–“Regular & routine” management under Animal Welfare Act 1999

–Ongoing research to improve animal welfare in ONE

• Ways to improve hatching success and chick survival• Egg and chick transportation protocols• Disease management and quarantine protocols

• Approved by DOC and the Kiwi Recovery Group

Kiwi Encounter & animal welfare

• Day to day husbandry

–Hygiene, housing, feeding, health• “Yolk-sac” operations to remove impacted/infected

yolk• Abandoned eggs or chicks

–Development and refinement of best practice

–Responsible to DOC & Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA)

Kiwi Encounter & broader kiwi welfare • Injured birds

– Small numbers of injured kiwi treated by Kiwi Encounter

• Vehicle collisions• Trap injuries• Dog attacks – wild dogs & ‘kiwi’ dog accidents

– Poor public & vet. awareness of standards & responses to injury/harm

Kiwi Encounter

Kiwi Encounter & broader kiwi welfare

• Concerns about impacts of O.N.E on kiwi welfare– Do captive reared kiwi

have lower survival than wild chicks?

• No difference in survival• Earlier breeding attempts

– Is there evidence of stress or harm to captive kiwi

• No imprinting• No evidence of prolonged

stress

Kiwi Encounter

General conclusions – kiwi conservation

• Increased public awareness of kiwi conservation

• Change in perception of O.N.E

• Increased kiwi numbers

• Strategic use of O.N.E - pulsed application by year or by area e.g. stoat eruption S Bassett

Summary• Kiwi continue to decline but…

Captive rearing is making a huge difference

• Urgently require effective stoat control … a long way off

The next step …

• Improve husbandry for other kiwi sp

• O.N.E to recover populations near extinction – eg South Island species

• Continue to follow & improve best practice for husbandry & welfare

• Public education on kiwi welfare

Kiwi Encounter

Thank you