At the end of Brecon Street, at the foothill of Bob’s Peak, is the terminal for the Skyline Gondola. There are a number of other attractions there, too. My little niece raved over the two miniature golf courses, one indoors and another outdoors across the street. I was a bit surprised that I was the only person interested in seeing a real live kiwi. I think that a destination’s wildlife speaks strongly of the character of that place. With this enigmatic creature, to the extent that New Zealanders refer to themselves as "Kiwis", it couldn’t be more true. The place to see one in Queenstown is:
Kiwi & Birdlife Park
Brecon Street
PO Box 643
Queenstown, New Zealand
Tel: (64) (0) 3 442 8059
Fax: (64) (0) 3 442 8061
Web: www.kiwibird.co.nz
It’s a private urban sanctuary for New Zealand’s unique flora and fauna, both common and rare, run by the Wilson family since 1986 when they converted an unsightly refuse site into a licensed rehabilitation facility for injured birds. Since then, it has built a nursery and has been participating in a national breeding program for New Zealand’s indigenous birds. Its current effort is toward the Black Stilt, among the top ten most endangered avian species in the world. Estimates for this freshwater wading birds is around 150 left in existence, both wild and captive. And, I got to see one. They also have takahe running loose. Once common throughout New
Zealand, these large and plump, hen-like flightless birds were on the dodo-list until 1948. In true detective fashion, an ornithologist named Geoffrey Orbell concentrated his search in the Murchison Mountains on the far side of Lake Te Anau. Once found, the New Zealand government stepped in. It seems that grazing deer, introduced from Europe, was a major competitive problem for these birds. Today, encouraging numbers are being
released every year, including some onto predator-free islands tightly managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
But it was a kiwi I most wanted to see. The kiwi is a flightless nocturnal bird, sleeping in underground burrows by day. Their feathers are more like hair. Long bills with nostrils at its tip are used to root for grubs and worms. They mate for life, and lay the largest egg compared to body weight of any other bird in the world. Of course, to see them as the tourist that I was, it required an artificial environment. I stood in the dark, nothing to do, for a good 20 minutes before my eyes began to adjust to the fake moonlight. A hazy shadow, on the other side of an enclosure, I saw them . . . little wobbling beach balls poking pencils into the crevices of the glass wall.
The kiwi’s legacy is also in jeopardy. As one might expect, human shortsightedness is the cause. The introduction to New Zealand of the opossum has been an ecological disaster. Kiwis are one of the favorite prey of these nocturnally active and aggressive marsupials. You’ll find many products at gift stores throughout New Zealand made of
‘possum hair, from stuffed plush souvenir toys to luxurious scarves. By all means, buy them. A percentage goes to the New Zealand government’s efforts to control the detrimental effects of this alien species. Most of the fur is collected from road kill. They are so abundant that some estimates place their numbers in excess of New Zealand’s domestic sheep population.
You can’t miss the tunnel entrance to Kiwi & Birdlife Park. It’s open daily at 9am, and it takes a leisurely hour or so to walk its self-guided garden trail. Admission is NZ$14.50 ($5 for children, also discounted for families). If you’re there at either 11am or 3pm, be sure to watch the brief conservation show, where you’ll be introduced to some of the park’s resident birds by name.
I liked the visitor center/souvenir shop; it’s one of the better ones in Queenstown. And a percentage of its sales goes toward conservation projects. In a corner nook of the store were some attractive dining tables, but I did not check out the menus.
The tuatara is worth checking out -- another evolutionary oddity of an isolated island. It looks like an iguana, but it’s not even a lizard. Scientists say that it is a missing link, the sole survivor of a prehistoric family of intermediate creatures.
Another bird I was much hoping to see in New Zealand is the kea, the only alpine parrot in the world, and a big one at that. The Kiwi & Birdlife Park has them, but I was fortunate to see them in the wild at Mount Cook, also. Inquisitive and fearless, these protected birds have been known to tear automobiles apart.
Click and listen to this: NZbirdcall.wav. I captured it on my digital memo recorder. We had stopped at the quiet wayside called Mirror Lake along the way to Milford Sound, and this amazing bird sang from somewhere deep in the alpine rainforest. I have no idea what kind of bird. I sent the recording in an email to my cousin, Ace, and we’re both going to New Zealand next year to uncover the culprit!