Not far north of my night's stopping place, on State Highway 2, is the National Wildlife Centre at Mount Bruce. This is a large stretch of bush, just rescued from the logging frenzy that fuelled NZ growth at the beginning of the 20th century. Today the project aims to rejuvenate the forest as home to wild, breeding native species such as kiwi. Their biggest challenge is the possum, 70m of which are now wild in this country, enormously destructive both to trees and to birds.
The centre has a number of large aviaries which are home to individuals and breeding pairs of endangered species, and their programme is a key part of restoring native populations. Ground-nesting birds are particularly vulnerable to introduced predators such as stoat and possum so they bring eggs into their hatcheries, protect the tiny chicks and then reintroduce them to the wild. This has been successful, especially with kiwi. This is a North Island Kokako, named Pakiki, because she is. The word means 'curious' in Maori. She is planned to be a breeding mother.