Takamoana, a 1kg North Island brown kiwi, was released into the Maungataniwha Native Forest in northern Hawke's Bay yesterday. The juvenile male kiwi was the 100th to be hatched and released into the wild by the Forest Lifeforce Restoration (FLR) Trust, which was established in 2006 with the backing of Auckland entrepreneur Simon Hall, who is the executive chairman of Tasti Foods.

Hunter and Mr Hall yesterday released the kiwi into the trust-owned forest which borders the Department of Conservation-managed Te Urewera National Park and the Whirinaki Conservation Forest.

The 6120 hectare private forest includes a 600ha "core area" where predator numbers have been reduced by extensive baiting. Hunter, who has been an advocate for conservation projects around the world, was made the FLR Trust's patron at the release. Takamoana was hatched as part of the BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust's Operation Nest Egg, which involves incubating eggs taken from the wild.

Article sourced from NZ HERALD - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10785053