Image: Sara Tansy for the Capital Kiwi Project
Our new play activation Ngā Tūrua Kiwi is a celebration of our most beloved native bird, and we have been thrilled to have local experts Capital Kiwi Project supporting us to make it the best activation yet!
Capital Kiwi Project is restoring a large-scale wild kiwi population to Wellington’s backyard.
A partnership between Wellington iwi, landowners, and community members, Capital Kiwi Project dreams of a future where kiwi and other manu taonga roam wild in our capital city.
“We want residents from Island Bay to Karori and Ōhariu falling to sleep to the sound of kiwi calling.”
They monitor a network of 4,600 traps, spanning 23,455 hectares from Red Rocks, through Mākara, to west of Porirua.
Image: Sara Tansy for the Capital Kiwi Project
The project began in 2018 with five years of trapping and monitoring to prepare the environment. In November 2022, after being extinct in Wellington for well over 100 years, Capital Kiwi Project released the first 11 birds in the Wellington region, followed by 50 more the following year.
So far, 214 kiwi have been released in the region, with more to come.
Image: Sara Tansy for the Capital Kiwi Project
We have been thrilled to have the support of Capital Kiwi Project and their iwi representative Rawiri Walsh. CKP have shared their mātauranga about Wellington’s wild kiwi population with our team as we developed Ngā Tūrua Kiwi, our PlayHQ activation for under 5s.
We hope you enjoy learning about this precious taonga through interactive play.
The play activation will remain in place until December, when we close our doors in preparation for our big move to Wellington’s new central library, Te Matapihi ki Te Ao Nui.
