Politicians, children and Māori groups gathered in the Wellington banquet hall to see in the flesh the success of efforts to protect country’s national bird
When five kiwi were presented to a crowd of 300 people gathered inside the banquet hall of New Zealand’s parliament, there was an awe-struck intake of breath.
As handlers moved through the group, cradling the whiskery birds, people looked on, spellbound. Some grew teary, and one boy, who noticed a soft brown feather drift to the floor, scooped it up, as his mother urged him to keep it safe.
New Zealand may be saturated with images of its treasured national bird but it is rare to see one in the flesh and this was the first time kiwi had ever set foot in parliament.
The event on Tuesday night, which included politicians, children, iwi (tribes) and environmental groups, marked the culmination of a project – six years in the making – to redevelop a kiwi population in Wellington’s wilds, after a more than 100-year absence.
