How to grow a kiwi

Take a (very) large egg, some insects (plus specially developed food), and a safe place to put on weight for a while. This is how you grow a kiwi, and improve wild survival rates from 5% to 65%. With over 2,600 hatches across their 30 year history, the National Kiwi Hatchery have a lot of experience under their belt, but there's always more to learn from our iconic national bird. Our Changing World visits the hatchery to learn how they combine conservation and eco-tourism to help grow kiwi numbers.

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Learn more:

• Operation Nest Egg has also been a great success for the rowi kiwi, the only remaining wild population of which lives in Ōkārito on the South Island’s West Coast.
• In July 2025 little spotted kiwi were found on New Zealand’s mainland for the first time in 50 years. Two chicks and eggs were subsequently brought to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch to allow them to get to stoat-proof weight.
• With a lot of help, and stoat trapping, brown kiwi are returning to the wilds of Wellington.
• Candling is also used to track kākāpō embryo development and egg fertility, learn more in episode 12 of the Kākāpō Files II podcast.

Guests:

• Emma Bean, manager of the National Kiwi Hatchery
• Carole Dean, kiwi keeper, National Kiwi Hatchery
• Rebeca Bothamley, tour guide, National Kiwi Hatchery

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details