Wildlife staff mourn 'Piwi' the kiwi

Staff at a Christchurch, New Zealand, wildlife park are mourning the loss of the "Christmas miracle" kiwi chick that they'd painstakingly hatched and hand-reared for the past three weeks.

Piwi, the newest and smallest captive kiwi at Orana Wildlife Park, was dubbed a miracle baby because staff had assisted the tiny bird to hatch from a badly damaged eggshell.

The hatching was successful but the tiny chick died after facing multiple health issues and having undergone a major operation.

Newest and smallest
Piwi was the first kiwi chick to hatch at Orana in nearly a decade, and was believed to be the smallest captive kiwi on record.

Tara Atkinson, Orana’s head keeper of native fauna, said the park staff was devastated by the loss of their special baby.

"We were constantly amazed at the fighting spirit and sheer determination shown by the chick - it really had a will to live but ultimately faced just too many major challenges," Atkinson said.

Multiple problems
Piwi was just 227gm at birth and had a difficult entry into the world. Dedicated staff had done all they could but the problems the chick had encountered, were numerous, Atkinson said.

"For example, when the egg was taken for incubation, multiple holes were found so staff patched them with clear nail varnish. Keepers then became concerned at the lack of development of the egg and feared bacteria had seeped into it.

"Later, when the chick attempted to ‘internal pip’ [break into the air cell], it missed the air cell by a few millimetres. Keepers removed some egg shell and made a small hole in the membrane to enable the chick to breathe. The kiwi was trying to hatch out the side of the egg, rather than through the top. Generally, if the chick misses the air cell then it will not survive," she said.

Human assistance
The kiwi chick spent seven days attempting to hatch. Eventually staff intervened to "assist-hatch" by removing layers of shell and membrane to free the hatchling.

Orana park workers, who were hatching a kiwi chick for the first time, were given step-by-step specialist advice over speaker phone from Kiwi Encounter - a kiwi sanctuary in Rotorua - on what to do with their tiny bird.

The hatching was successful but the chick emerged with a partial external yolk that had to be massaged through its tiny navel before the muscles clenched. There were only a few minutes to perform this task before the kiwi expired.

Early on there were hopeful signs as the chick began to eat and drink, and emerged from time to time.

Splints were applied to its feet to straighten them, then - at two weeks old - the chick underwent a major operation to remove a massive 40 gram non-absorbed yolk sac.

"The bird only weighed 171 grams before the operation. As a comparison, the average weight for a two-week-old kiwi chick is 300gm. To our amazement, the chick was very active the morning after the operation showing its fighting spirit," said Atkinson.

Weight loss
Following the operation, the kiwi’s weight plummeted to just 99gm.

Staff was in regular contact with Rainbow Springs for advice. Keepers had to force feed the bird four times daily, and last Saturday morning (3.01.10) it experienced the first weight gain - up 2gm to 101gm - in days.

"But sadly, the little chick died that afternoon and we are now awaiting the results of a post mortem," Atkinson said.

"This precious little bird taught us a great deal. In fact our entire team has learnt more about kiwi rearing and management in the past few weeks than we ever knew. Whilst deeply saddened by its loss, we know we did everything we possibly could for the chick."

Piwi was a North Island brown kiwi whose parents Riri and Dearheart had arrived at Orana in 2006.