On 1 May 2011 Manukura, little white kiwi, hatched. This was a delightful surprise to the rangers and team at Pukaha as she is the first white kiwi to hatch here and, as far as we know, the first white kiwi to hatch in captivity.

Manukura is not albino (where there is a lack of melanin that makes pigmentation white and features pink eyes) she is pure white which means she is the rare progeny of two parents who carry the recessive white feather gene.

Manukura’s parents came from predator-free Little Barrier Island (700kms north of Pukaha) along with 28 other kiwi in 2010 in the single largest translocation of kiwi known. The purpose of the translocation was to boost kiwi population here. The result of that breeding season was 14 healthy chicks, most of who have now been released in to our forest and will breed in the next 12 months.

Manukura captured world-wide attention when she was born as she is the only known white kiwi in the world. Recently she had a health scare and was treated by specialist vets at The Nest at Wellington Zoo. She had swallowed two stones, which is not unusual for birds that often have gut stones to assist with digestion. Unfortunately one stone was large and refused to move through her system the traditional way so it had to be removed. Noted Wellington Hospital urologist, Mr Rod Studd, performed the procedure under the full gaze of international media. The stone was ‘blasted’ to reduce its size and removed successfully using an endoscopic procedure . Manukura recovered well and on return to Pukaha Mount Bruce was introduced to her large enclosure in the recently completed kiwi house where all visitors may view her.

Manukura is considered toanga (a blessing) by local iwi, Rangitane ō Wairarapa and her name means ‘of chiefly status’.

You may contribute to her ‘web cam fund’ here. This will enable us to purchase state of the art web cam technology so she may be viewed in her burrow and online on demand.