About us
Kevin the Kiwi
Get to know the real life Kevin.
We have a long relationship with Save the Kiwi – they're one of the charities our members can donate to by rounding up their success fee. A few years back, they offered to let us name and nurture a real life kiwi!
Early life
Kevin was hatched in 2017, at Kiwi Encounter Rainbow Springs, Rotorua. That same year, he traversed Te Ika-a-Māui (the North Island), on an exciting road trip southwest to Rotokare Scenic Reserve in Taranaki.
Kevin can't drive, so he was personally chauffeured by a small team from Trade Me. The team very quickly learned a lot about the many, many rules when it comes to transporting kiwi by road, in order to protect our national bird.
His current home
Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust is a community-led trust in the heart of Taranaki. As the kaitiaki of the beautiful Lake Rotokare and its environs, its primary focus is to achieve the highest level of restoration, protection, and enhancement of Rotokare's indigenous ecosystem. Rotokare’s wetland and lowland forests are home to hundreds of native plants and threatened wildlife species including kiwi, hihi (stitchbird), tīeke (saddleback), pōpokatea (whitehead), and toutouwai (North Island robin).
Taranaki Kohanga Kiwi at Rotokare (TKKR) is a joint partnership between the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust. Together the partnership has established a genetically diverse breeding population of kiwi within the safety of the Rotokare Sanctuary, with progeny of these birds now being relocated to other sites to help grow kiwi populations.
Settling down
We've continued to follow Kevin's journey over the years and in 2022 Anders, our CEO, visited Rotokare to help rangers change Kevin's location transponder.
In 2022, Kevin became a dad! He and his whānau are happily settled in the heart of the Taranaki. If you’re keen to help them out, you can choose to round up your success fees to the nearest dollar and donate the difference to Save the Kiwi.
