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Story: Kiwi

Distribution of kiwi populations, 2015

Before people arrived, New Zealand was a land of trees and kiwi numbered in the millions. Now they remain only in isolated patches. In 2015 there were around 300 Haast tokoeka (a variety of the southern tokoeka) and about 250 rowi living at Ōkārito. The little spotted kiwi survived only on offshore islands and at Zealandia (formerly the Karori Sanctuary) in Wellington.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Derek Grzelewski, ‘Kiwi: icon in trouble.’ New Zealand Geographic 45 (January–March 2000): 66–96

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Kiwi – Kiwi species, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/10161/distribution-of-kiwi-populations-2015 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.