Rowi numbers on the increaseSTACEY LOCKIE Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Tracey Dearlove cuddles up close to a kiwi. Rowi are confined to a small area of lowland forest inland from Okarito in South Westland, and on a few predator free islands in the Marlborough Sounds. Kaipupu Point Sounds Wildlife Sanctuary is a community-run mainland island near Picton, and became a new creche site for rowi in 2016. As kaitiaki of rowi, a taonga species, local iwi Te Atiawa, and Te Runanga o Makaawhio from South Westland, have ongoing involvement with the birds during these translocations. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the rowi project is benefiting from this approach too.

Source: Stuff August 01, 2017 18:00 UTC