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Published: November 25th 2013
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Sunday November 24th, 2013. Franz Josef Glacier & West Coast Wildlife Centre, Franz Josef, South Island, New Zealand.
After breakfast we walked down the road to the West Coast Wildlife Centre where they incubate the eggs of the rare Okarito Brown Kiwi. We purchased two different tickets - one for D to see the 3 kiwi's in the exhibit and one for M to see the exhibit plus the "backstage pass" which she would use later this afternoon.
The Okarito Brown Kiwi was first thought to be a sub-species of other brown kiwi. However in 1994, with advances in DNA and genetics, these Kiwi were discovered to be an entirely new species. They were given the name "Rowi". They used to be found over much of the lower North Island and Upper South Island. Now they are confined to a zone in South Okarito Forest (where we were yesterday). The Rowi have grey feathers, often with white patches on their faces. They are soft to the touch - not course like other kiwi. They mate for life and usually only lay one egg a year. The male and females take turns to incubate the egg whereas in most kiwi
families only the male looks after the egg. We listened to the movie about these "rarest of them all kiwi" and then entered thie exhibit. It took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust to the dark. Kiwis are nocturnal animals. There were 3 Rowis in the exhibit between 2 and 3 months old. We
managed to see all three. After the kiwis there was an exhibit on the glacier and glaciation.
After the West Coast Wildlife Centre we returned to the Youth Hostel and collected the car. Then we drove to the Franz Josef Glacier. First took the walk up to Sentinal Rock where we could see the bottom end of the head of the glacier. At this lookout there was a lovely Maori tale of the Avalanche girl called Hine who persuaded her lover, Tawe, to go climbing with her. He fell to his death. Hine's tears of grief flooded the valley and were frozen by the gods as a memorial to her grief.
We cam back down from Sentinal Rock and then took the Glacier Valley Walk. We passed a trio of waterfalls on the way which were quite stunning. We were nearly at
the head of the glacier when M's right hiking boot came a cropper. The sole had come away from the heel and was flopping around. Still we continued on to the head of the glacier. It was a little cloudy at times so you had to be patient and wait for it to lift. However, When the sun shone you could see streaks of blue ice in the glacier and it was quite beautiful. We hung around for about half an hour looking at the glacier and taking lots of photos. The walk was about 1 hr and a half round trip. On the way back D improvised a repair to the broken hiking boot using the boot lace. This was very successful.
We returned to the Youth Hostel for lunch. M then went for her backstage visit to see the Rowi. D went to take another look at the 3 in the exhibit. M donned plastic covers for her trainers and then the group of 6 were taken downstairs (backstage). Here we were taken in to the room where the eggs are received and cleaned. All male Rowi that have been captured are fitted with transmitters. These transmit
at different frequencies depending ont the bird's activity. This means that it is possible to know when a bird is incubating an egg.
The gestation period for a Rowi egg is very long - 80 to 90 days. After 30 days the egg is collected (that is if it hasn't been eaten by a stoat - their number 1 predator). Apparently, if you remove the eggs earlier then the successful hatching rate drops significantly. After the eggs have been washed they are placed in the incubation chamber until they hatch. They are currenly incubating 26 eggs
at the centre. This is a very high number considering there are only 450 Rowi birds left in the world. This has gone up though from 130 - so the program is working. The main problem, howver, is still the stoat, followed by cats. M saw three chicks in down in the backstage area. One was only 24 hours old. It was proper little kiwi, eyes open, all its feathers and a sense of smell - completely independent at hatching. That is why the incubation period is so long.
However they a small and vulnerable and would not survive in the wild.
So they are taken to a predator free island so they can grow to adulthood. Then they are fitted with transmitters and released back into the Okarito Forest in the hope that they will breed and that their eggs can then be collected in order to continue the cycle. M had a great time as this sort of stuff really rocks her boat. After the tour she went back up to look at the 3 kiwis in the exhibit again.
After a rest we went into the village of Franz Josef went for a stroll along the Terrace Walk which is in the Westland Tai Poutini National Park. After that we visited a couple of the town's churches. St James' which is Anglican and Our Lady of the Alps Catholic Church. We also walked up to Bailey Bridge which crosses the Waiho River.
Dinner was Rib Eye steak and salad followed by the last of the pineapple cake, washed down with some wine.
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