Country Calendar - A Bird in the Hand

In 1965 King Country farmer Warwick Wilson bought 400 hectares of bushland on the Kuaotunu Peninsula in the Coromandel. He planned to clear the native bush and graze 3000 sheep, but when wool prices collapsed he changed tack. Forty-five years later, he runs a Northern Brown Kiwi sanctuary on his property. In this episode of the all-things-rural show, director/reporter Carol Archie talks to Wilson about his vision for Waitaia Bay, and follows guardians John and Paula Williams as they monitor nests and relocate healthy eggs to Rotorua for hatching. Safe from predators, the young kiwis return home to live out their lives.

I offered my land from day one, because I believe kiwi are a tremendously emotive symbol that can help us raise the funds needed to restore their habitat and the ecosystem to its original pristine state.

– Statement by Warwick Wilson on the Project Kiwi Trust website

Key Cast & Crew

Brent Whitwell

Editor

Barrington West

Narrator

Frank Torley

Consultant Producer

Julian O'Brien

Producer

Don Paulin

Sound Recordist, Sound Editor

Carol Archie

Director, Reporter