Pistachio heading back home to the hills

Pistachio just hatched.

It will be like a child leaving home – sad but exciting.

Pistachio – the very first kiwi to be bred at Otanewainuku since the kiwi trust began in 2002 will be released back into the wild on Sunday.

'It will be an immense thrill,” says Hans Prendergast, chair of the Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust.

'It's a fantastic conservation story and testament to the hard work, skill and commitment of the kiwi team.”

Pistachio was just a fertile egg being sat on by an adult kiwi male when discovered in Otanewainuku forest in 2013.

Trust volunteers took the egg to a hatchery, where Pistachio emerged as a healthy chick in March 2013.

The flightless bird with hairy feathers spent her first three years in a private predator free crèche, before she was tracked down by a team using conservation dogs.

Pistachio is now a very healthy adult bird weighing 2.4 kilograms and is ready to go home, to meet her extended family and resume her life journey in the forest where she was conceived.

Pistachio, a healthy 2.24kg adult ready to go home

Hans says the release will be an historic occasion which celebrates the restoration of the kiwi population for the future.

The public are welcome at the Oropi Hall at 1.30pm to share the moment Pistachio is released and learn about the work the Otanewainuku Trust does to protect and conserve the kiwi.

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