2023 Kiwi
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The tokoeka is one of five kiwi species, and resides in the South Island, with three geographically distinct populations – Haast, Fiordland and Rakiura (Stewart Island).
It is estimated that before humans arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, the kiwi population was as high as 12 million. In the centuries since, exacerbated by European colonisation in the 1800s, the impacts of deforestation and predation have led to their dramatic decline to an estimated 68,000 birds.
Unusual among kiwi, tokoeka are sometimes active during the daytime. On Rakiura they are often spotted by visitors and can sometimes be seen on the beach foraging for food. Tokoeka protect each other by living in family units, with offspring staying as helpers to their parents for up to seven years, sharing the task of incubating their siblings before they hatch. The combined population numbers for the three tokoeka taxa make it the most numerous kiwi species, with over 30,000 birds in the wild.
The Rakiura subspecies is the most numerous of the three tokoeka taxa, with an estimated population of 20,000 that well outnumbers the island’s human residents. Due to its small population of 400, the Haast tokoeka is actively managed through Operation Nest Egg, a kiwi recovery programme that raises kiwi chicks in captivity to increase their chance of survival into adulthood. The programme is a combined effort between the Department of Conservation, community groups, iwi, researchers and captive rearing facilities.
Kiwi hold a special place in Māori culture, and mana whenua (local people) may gather to welcome young birds back to their birthplace when they are released into the wild. Tokoeka were named by local iwi Ngai Tāhu. Meaning ‘weka with a walking stick’, they were given this name due to their resemblance to similarly small, brown and round weka, and their long, stick-like beaks.