Weka Watch files
22.03.1995
Weka on the rise
As we prepare for thewekabreeders' annual conference to be held shortly at the Otorohanga Kiwi House, we have gathered together some statistics.
During the last 11 months we have transferred 15 birds to other breeders, two birds to Rainbow Springs and released 35, a total of 52 birds. (During the previous 12 months we transferred two and released 10 birds).
This last year has indeed been busy with comings and goings and we are aware that more chicks are due to come to us shortly.
Five birds are presently held in the release aviary, three of them our chicks. One is a "grandchild" to our two breeding pairs, hatched in an aviary at Karaka, and the other young bird was hatched in John and Helen Wilson's aviary at Waikino.
Our two breeding pairs have raised 12 chicks over the last year.
At present, Bosley and Miranda are nesting again and Nelson and Emma are shortly to be transferred to a Tauranga aviary to replace a pair of unsuccessful breeders.
The pair from Tauranga will be released after a period in the aviaries here, so they lose their instinct to return to Tauranga.
Hopefully, they will then find new and compatible mates. This factor has proved to be very important in establishing breeding pairs or even pairs that will tolerate each other.
We are still trying to find Tarzan a mate that he likes after losing his original mate, Jane. He now has a fourth female with him, Kokiri, who failed to breed successfully with her previous partner in a Titirangi aviary.
In recent weeks, two released birds have been delivered to us, having been picked up dead.