Dramatic start to life for kiwi chick still inside egg that survived close encounter with 13-ton digger

A kiwi chick called Whisker has had a dramatic start to life after its burrow was run over by a 13-ton digger in a remote part of New Zealand's North Island. Whisker, named because he only survived his ordeal by a whisker, is now safe and well at Rainbow Springs' Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua. The accident sparked a massive community effort to save the unhatched chick.



Whinray Kiwi Trust volunteer Steve Sawyer said the kiwi chick's adventure began when the digger hit its burrow prompting the adult male kiwi which was incubating the egg to run for his life. Land owner Clive Lewis then spotted the egg at the side of the road, Sawyer said. "He was very surprised to hear a squawk and to see a partially hatched kiwi chick. Clive then carefully placed the egg down his (woollen) top to keep it warm and drove 3 kilometres back to his house to call me."



Lewis then drove into town and handed the chick to local woman and conservation enthusiast Amy England, who assembled a makeshift incubator, plucked her 4-year-old son from daycare and set off on the four-and-a half-hour drive north to the Kiwi Encounter conservation centre in Rotorua. "Not only did Amy have to ensure that the egg was secured safely in the car and remained at a constant temperature of between 26 and 30 degrees [Celsius] she also had to entertain her son Cael for the long journey," Sawyer said.



Kiwi Encounter's assistant husbandry manager, Emma Bean, said the chick had survived the ordeal well. "When the chick arrived it had a lot of soil around its navel and needed a bit of a clean up, but apart from that it managed to complete the hatch itself and is strong and healthy." Whisker will be released into a Kiwi "crèche" near Gisborne in about three weeks. Once it reaches 1kg and is strong enough to survive in the wild, it will be released at Whinray Scenic Reserve.