Photo: suppliedThe West Coast Wildlife Centre at Franz Josef Glacier welcomed a new addition on Christmas Day - the 50th Okarito rowi kiwi chick to hatch this season. Rowi are the rarest kiwi in the world with fewer than 450 birds left alive in the wild, and are found only in the Okarito kiwi sanctuary. Since opening in late 2010, the West Coast Wildlife Centre has hatched 278 rowi kiwi chicks and 109 Haast tokoeka, in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Te Runanga o Makaawhio. "It has been a wonderful and extremely rewarding conservation journey over the last seven years," wildlife centre owner Richard Benton said. The West Coast Wildlife Centre was judged by Lonely Planet as one of its top 12 favourite new places to visit in New Zealand.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 28, 2017 00:33 UTC