The hills are alive - Kiwi arrival May 2023

In May 2023, 50 kiwi travelled from Maungatautari to whakakāinga anō (make their homes again) in the wild west of Wellington. It was one of the largest kiwi translocations undertaken.
It was an epic collective effort - locals, landowners and iwi - and the result of many years of mahi. We are extremely proud to present this video as a marker of that milestone.
Chur to videographers Wrestler (Paul, Jaz) for capturing the emotion of the pōwhiri at Pipitea Marae, at Mākara Community Hall a week later, and at the releases on to Terawhiti.
The translocation is a partnership between Save the Kiwi, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, and The Capital Kiwi Project: matching kiwi supply with community-led, landscape scale pest control for the first time. It promises to transform how we look after kiwi: from intensive care to creating the conditions to restore kiwi to their homes in the wild at pace. The tono to Ngāti Korokii Kahukura (Maungatautari kaitiaki), led by Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika, underpinned it.
The 4,600 traps that have enabled the return or the kiwi are not just dots on a map but a network of relationships built over five years. The muddy and windy trap checks, the cuppas and bbqs, going up the guts through conservation bureaucracy = a community committing to be kiwi guardians #gokiwi #whakawhanaungatanga #workingtogether

[@astronyu]

fire video for a fire project!!! it's really a shame this doesn't have more eyes on it