A young kiwi rescued from the Waitaia roadside between Whitianga and Kuaotunu has found a new home on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

The rescued Waitaia kiwi chick is released on Motutapu Island. Photo by Bridget Winstone.

The tiny chick was rescued by Project Kiwi coordinators Jon and Paula Williams two weeks ago.

They contacted the Department of Conservation which placed the chick at Auckland Zoo where it gained weight before taking a ferry trip to Motutapu to join other Coromandel brown kiwi.

DOC is working with the Motutapu Restoration Trust, iwi and sponsors to build a genetically robust population of the Coromandel species.

Kiwi from different parts of the peninsula are being released on Motutapu to pair up and breed. Birds bred there can then be returned to predator-controlled areas of the Coromandel.

Conservation services ranger Christine Friis says this will boost the number and genetic diversity of kiwi on the Coromandel.

Coromandel brown kiwi live in the northern Coromandel, with DOC, community groups and individual landowners all working hard to control introduced predators and increase kiwi numbers.