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A small white kiwi with a feisty personality was more than a bird to those who knew her and the institutions that served as her guardians.
Manukura was emblematic of the iwi guardians who appointed her, and a great blessing to the Pūkaha National Wildlife Center in Wairarapa that hatched her.
The extremely rare bird made headlines around the world as the first white kiwi chick to be born in captivity in 2011, and it died on December 27, 2020 after surgery to remove an infertile egg that had become stuck.
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Manukura, the white kiwi, attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Pūkaha National Wildlife Center near Eketahuna.
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A memorial service held in Pūkaha, just south of Eketahuna, on Saturday afternoon was attended by hundreds of people whose hearts she had touched.
Mike Kawana from Rangitāne or Wairarapa said that iwi elders believed that an unusual event, such as the arrival of the white kiwi nearly 10 years ago, was a sign of major events on the horizon.
“The way the elders told me … it was a sign of good to come.”
Shortly thereafter, the iwi completed its Waitangi Tribunal process and was awarded the national wildlife center and its land is part of its treaty agreement.
“Our settlement passed and Pūkaha came back to us, all those things started to happen.”
Kawana gave Manukura his name and said it was emblematic of iwi’s progress in recent years.
“She surely in her time with us has been an incredible little taonga.”
Robert Kitchin / Things
Kathy Houkamau (right) was in charge of the facility when Manukura was born and had to take hundreds of calls from the media and curious people. (File photo)
Kathy Houkamau, Wairarapa Conservation Department area manager and former Mt Bruce facility manager, said that as soon as news of Manukura’s arrival broke, the demand to see her was huge.
She received hundreds of calls from the media around the world and sometimes referred to herself as the Manukura PA.
“It was crazy, but in a good way.”
The center was recovering from the loss of several kiwis after a ferret foray in July 2010 and the hatching of the white kiwi chick less than a year later was a positive development that marked a popular and prosperous time for the center.
“Manukura came to us exactly when we needed his magic.”
Houkamau said the bird had a remarkable effect on people.
“The people were completely bewitched and no one was immune to its power. I saw a lot of people wipe their tears when they saw her. “
Kiwi Chief Ranger Jess Flamy was in tears as she spoke about what Manukura meant to everyone at Saturday’s memorial service, which ended with the kiwi being carried on an honor guard through the forest and her old home in the Kiwi House. .
PIERS FULLER / STUFF / Stuff
Bob Francis was president of Pukaha and was a great driver in the expansion of the kiwi program that led to the birth of Manukura.
Bob Francis chaired the Pūkaha Board from 2006 to 2020 and understood its importance to the institution.
He said she had a “shrill” nature, which made her a character to watch in the newly renovated Kiwi home.
“It is with great sadness that we have lost her, but her memory will continue.”
There have been two other white kiwis hatched in Pūkaha from Manukura, and one of them may be on display later in the year, Francis said.
Emily Court, general manager of Pukaha, said it was its living nature that fascinated visitors.
“With his quirky, sometimes energetic personality, he captured the hearts of people around the world.”
Piers Fuller / Stuff
Thirty kiwis flew into Hood Masterton airfield to be flown to Pūkaha in May 2010.
At its commemoration, it was obvious that its keepers had a special bond with the bird, which it remained in captivity throughout its adult life.
She was the star of Pūkaha’s Kiwi House, which she “owned like a boss” from the day she was released into the night compound.
Thirty kiwis from Te Hauturu-o-Toi (Little Barrier Island) flew to Masterton in 2010 to diversify Pūkaha’s population and strengthen its breeding program.
Representatives of the iwi Ngati Manuhiri of Hauturu were in Pūkaha on Saturday to receive Manukura’s remains back into their care.
