Rotorua’s newest kiwi is named after Dr. Ashley Bloomfield

The first chick of the season at Rotorua’s National Kiwi Hatchery is named after a man who has spent much of 2020 in the spotlight.

Newborn kiwi chick, Bloom, is a tribute to CEO of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, and he’s arrived in time to celebrate the start of Save the Kiwi Month.

Bloom was born on Tuesday, September 29, weighs 353 grams and has a unique white mark on her eyebrow. Save Kiwi Month is held annually in October.

The national director of the kiwi hatchery, tumu kaitiaki kiwi, Emma Bean, said: “It is rare to have a kiwi with such a large white spot as this. The last chick with significant white feathers was born in 2017.”

Save Kiwi Month is a Kiwis for kiwi initiative with the goal of raising funds to help protect kiwi populations and ensure these taonga are here for generations to come.

The National Kiwi Hatchery reopened to manuhiri (visitors) late last month in time for school holidays, with adjusted opening hours and discounted entry. The hatchery owned by Ngāi Tahu Tourism had been closed to visitors since the national Covid-19 shutdown.

All the money from the hatchery tour ticket sales goes back to funding the hatchery work.

Visitors to the hatchery can catch a glimpse of Bloom on the daily 10am tour, as the birds will have their daily weigh-ins and health check at that time.

The National Kiwi Hatchery is the largest kiwi farm in Aotearoa, having hatched more than 2000 chicks since 1995.

Team members are leaders in kiwi farming, egg incubation systems, incubation techniques, and kiwi chick rearing, and visitors can learn all about this on a guided tour.

Each year, the team hatches and hatches more than 100 kiwi chicks, and last year 125 were hatched.

Only six of those chicks would have survived had they been left in the wild. Last season, 72 percent of all brown kiwifruit hatched ex situ nationwide came from the hatchery.

The hatchery is located in the Rainbow Springs Nature Park complex, however only the hatchery is reopening. Rainbow Springs has no reopening date yet.