A North Island brown kiwi has hatched at a zoo in the United States.
Together we can do so much! The bird department collaborated with the North Island Brown Kiwi SSP & Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to hatch a female Brown Kiwi at our Avian Breeding Center. The yet-to-be named chick is being raised off-exhibit and appears healthy. pic.twitter.com/QIFsTM6RdC
— Toledo Zoo (@ToledoZoo) May 16, 2019
The female chick hatched on 21 March at Toledo Zoo's Avian Breeding Center.
Toledo Zoo curator of birds, Chuck Cerbini, said the egg was laid on 9 January at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, which is affiliated with the National Zoo in Washington DC.
It was then driven to Virginia and the Avian Breeding Center, where it eventually hatched.
The chick is the second born at Toledo Zoo.
A brown kiwi hatched at the zoo in December 2016, and was called Kirihimete.
The new female chick will also be given a Māori name, which Mr Cerbini said is a sign of respect to the people of New Zealand.
"With Toledo Zoo's financial help and through extensive predator-control programmes, active research, egg fostering, education initiatives and habitat protection, Kiwis for Kiwi, a charity dedicated to reversing the bird's population decline, is helping to ensure the long-term survival of this unique bird," Mr Cerbini said.
Another female brown kiwi chick was hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute on 3 February.
It initially struggled to stand, but was aided by laser therapy.
