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On the Thames Coast, around 20 years ago, vigilant locals knew that the local kiwi population was on the verge of collapse. Thames Coast Kiwi Care was formed in 2006 with the mission: “To protect and enhance kiwi populations on the Thames Coast”.

We wanted to ‘hear kiwi calling from backyards again’. This has become a reality as Te Mātā locals are regularly hearing kiwi calling and there has been an increase in sightings over the past few years.

We now have around 250 kiwi in our recovery area!

This is an incredible achievement by our community, with essentially ten times the 2006 kiwi population now present locally.

Join us for our 2023 Celebration & Fundraiser Dinner, on April 1st.

Tickets available here!

Our Effort
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Kiwi resident
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Hectares protected
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Volunteer hours per year

Trapping is crucial for protecting and enhancing the local kiwi population.

TCKC operates a comprehensive grid of traps targeting stoats, weasels, ferrets & feral cats over thousands of hectares. A team of committed volunteer trappers clear, service, and re-bait the traps 16 times per year.

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Traps deployed
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Volunteer trappers
Project Area Trapping Data

This map represents real-time trapping data from our project area, including the count of total predators removed.  An outer hexagon represents trap density for the area, and the the inner hexagon represents catches. The more red the colour, the higher the density / catches.

Touch a hexagon for breakdown numbers per trap.

Thanks to Groundtruth and Trap.NZ for this amazing resource!

Project area trapping data map legend

Kiwi are prolific breeders given the chance.  If New Zealand had its predator problem under control, we’d be knee deep in kiwi!

In Memoriam, Des Veal

The TCKC family is sad to have lost one of its earliest and most steadfast supporters with the recent passing of long-time Tapu Valley identity Des Veal. Des has been with us from the very first meeting, leading by example as one of the initial landowners to have traps established on his property.

He gave moral and practical support, including donations that directly funded a trapline. His passion and commitment to the group saw him being named as Patron. It was a very proud moment for all when Des released our first kiwi chick, Namunamu, into the area at Te Mata.

Our heartfelt condolences to the Veal family and it’s a fitting tribute to Des’s years of commitment that kiwi prints have recently been found on the Veal trapline.

Okioki i runga i te rangimarie, rest in peace.

Photo of Des Veal with juvenile kiwi

LATEST NEWS AND EVENTS

Timeline photosThe cuteness speaks for itself#kiwicuteness #savethekiwi #bringingkiwiback ... See MoreSee Less
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Once again we are really sorry that our Kiwi Avoidance Training has been postponed due to the rain forecast tomorrow😔A new date will be set soon. ... See MoreSee Less
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Our friends Tash & Vita from Re-store drew the lucky winner of our raffle yesterday... Shelley!Shelley is off to Australia so kindly gifted the awesome prize of meeting a kiwi up close to her friends Jenny Minhinnick & Martin Round 😊If you would like the unique opportunity to meet a kiwi & celebrate the work that so many people in our community put into protecting our national icon, come along to our fundraiser on April 1st! www.thamescoastkiwicare.org/fundraiserdinner2023/ ... See MoreSee Less
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A warm welcome (in this not so warm summer) to TCKC’s new trapping expansion project leader Joe Earnshaw. Joe comes to us from Yorkshire with his family and an impressive background in conservation, biodiversity and pest eradication. (Not possums but grey squirrels, introduced by Victorians and now a nuisance to native red squirrels – sound familiar??). Joe has been hard at work on the traplines putting out new self-setting AT220s and says they’re already working well, finding 3 possums in one trap! Joe’s also a big help on the admin front, lending a hand with new systems software. He’s eager to start collecting data from the new traps and can’t wait to see the potential improvement in the habitat. Be sure to say gidday when you see him out & about. ... See MoreSee Less
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Photo wall
Beautiful juvenile kiwi
TCKC Coordinator Sheena Beaton demonstrates predator traps
Scanning for kiwi transponders
Kiwi chick Ngawari Tiwhiri
Sheena Beaton and Neil John, Ollie the kiwi's release 2021
Early trap line deployment, 2006.
Eggs mustered as part of Operation Nest Egg
Trailcam photo of wild kiwi, Te Mata.
Bob Carr and Robert Mannes, trapline working bee
Coordinator Sheena Beaton in kiwi costume
TCKC Fundraiser 2017
Kiwi chick weighed, Operation Nest Egg, 2020.
WIld kiwi print in the mud
Coordinator Sheena Beaton gives a presentation to local community