Sadly for the native birds but good for the safety of our volunteers, we're unable to do any forest work at Otanewainuku during Level 4 lockdown. As soon as we can, we will be back up there checking on the health of the kiwi and other native species there. In the meantime, you can find out more about us on our website https://kiwitrust.org/
Sadly, two of the kiwi at Otanewainuku have been killed recently by a ferret or stoat with bite marks to the birds’ neck. Thanks to our kiwi team for springing into action heading into the bush on a rainy, windy day to install capture traps to try to catch the culprit and prevent further deaths. These unfortunate events further underline the importance of the wonderful work undertaken by OKT volunteers in maintaining traps in the bush to give kiwi, kokako and other species a fighting chance out there.
If you’d like to join the effort to protect our declining native species we’d love to see you at a work day - these are held on the second Sunday of every month at the DOC shelter on Mountain Road Oropi. You can see more information on our website and even register as a volunteer there www.kiwitrust.org
To find out more about these pesky pests like ferrets and stoats head to the Department of Conservation website https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/ferrets/
With daylight saving finished and autumn now upon us, there's no better time to take one of the three great walks at Otanewainuku.
Find the walk that best suits you https://kiwitrust.org/experiences/walks/
Since the beginning of 2019, we've removed over 600 possums from the bush at Ōtanewainuku. With more people monitoring traps, better trapping techniques and different lures, possum numbers continue to fall with 92 caught in January alone.
This is great news for the birds and trees that call Ōtanewainuku home as the possums do a huge amount of damage with the vegetation that they eat and the eggs that they kill.
We're very grateful for the regular donations that we receive from the Givealittle donors.
Of the three great walks at Ōtanewainuku, my favourite is the walk down to Whataroa Falls where the water always looks inviting even in winter.
On Monday though I strolled around the rimu loop walk with a mushroom expert and saw lots that I wouldn't have previously noticed. Never too old to learn
All 3 walks (rimu loop, summit, waterfall) at Ōtanewainuku are great but here's a short vid of the walk to the wonderful Whataroa Falls
