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Researchers have identified five species of kiwi, with the rowi kiwi being the rarest, found exclusively in Okarito. A mere 450 of these birds exist, and their survival is threatened. The Department of Conservation has initiated Operation Nest Egg, an innovative rescue strategy involving tagging adult birds with transmitters to keep track of their breeding activities, significantly shortening the time required for surveying their populations.
With state-of-the-art technology, including sniffer dogs, teams can locate nests and eggs with remarkable efficiency to protect them from predators, primarily stoats—introduced by Europeans and now the main threat to kiwi chicks.