THE 500th kiwi chick to hatch at Rainbow Springs kiwi centre was yesterday introduced to its 90ha creche at Bushy Park.

Rima Rau, whose egg was taken from Taranaki, hatched at the Rotorua incubation centre about three weeks ago, the 500th hatched since the specialist kiwi recovery programme began about three years ago.

Yesterday the 358g chick, whose sex is not yet known, was released into the rodent-free creche, saddlebacks and grey warblers singing background music to the babys small sniffling peeps prior to its release.

As Bushy Park conservation officer Daniel Hurley held Rima Rau near the burrow prepared in the root of a mahoe tree, the small kiwi knew exactly where it wanted to go.

"The little fella can see quite dark spaces and just wants to get there," Mr Hurley said.

Sure enough, upon release Rima Rau scuttled straight into the burrow and was then tucked in by fern fronds.

Australian bird enthusiasts Edwin and Kerri Tanner, who witnessed the release of three kiwi yesterday, said they felt lucky to stumble upon it.

"I think theyre absolutely beautiful. It's such a privilege to have a chance to see them at close range," Mrs Tanner said.

Joining Rima Rau in the creche were fellow Taranaki kiwis Trickle  the 501st chick hatched  and Kotukutuku, who hatched in January but remained at Rainbow Springs because of weight fluctuations.

Also released were Ruke, from the Karioi Rahui, and George, from the Waimarino, the 499th chick hatched and the kiwi to hatch from first Waimarino clutch this season.

The chicks will be creched in the park for about four months and released either on Mt Taranaki or at Karioi Rahui, which both have stoat control programmes.

Seven of this season's kiwi was presently being creched at the park, Mr Hurley said.

The recovery programme gave kiwi the chance to reach adulthood, since very few eggs survived in the wild, Mr Hurley said.

The 90ha creche, the largest in the area, gave the chicks a pest-free environment to put on weight and learn how to scrounge for food before they went to live in the wild and freed up room for more eggs to be hatched at the Rotorua centre, he said.

The chicks will be monitored by transmitters strapped to their legs, and weighed and checked once a month for mites, Mr Hurley said.

Since September 2005, Bushy Park has creched 36 kiwi chicks.

Do you feel like doing more for our beautiful kiwi? Here’s your chance! Owing to public interest, Bushy Park Sanctuary has launched a new sponsorship programme giving visitors and socially conscious businesses the opportunity to actively contribute to its kiwi creche programme. The North Island brown kiwi is rapidly declining in numbers on the New Zealand mainland. The kiwi population halving every 10 years. Bushy Park Sanctuary is part of a conservation programme that has been put in place to try and slow the decline of kiwi and hopefully reverse kiwi numbers around.

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Saddlebacks (tieke), have a reputation as prolific breeders and they're proving that to be true at Bushy Park. Thirty-six of the rare birds were released at Bushy Park in June, of which 14 were females. Of these, five pairs are now nesting or caring for young. More chicks are expected as saddlebacks can have two or more nests each season.

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