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| Subspecies: | Unknown |
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| Est. World Population: | 16500 |
| CITES Status: | NOT LISTED |
| IUCN Status: | Vulnerable |
| U.S. ESA Status: | NOT LISTED |
| Body Length: | |
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| Jumping Ability: | (Horizontal) |
| Life Span: | in the Wild |
| Life Span: | in Captivity |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Females) |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Males) |
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Apteryx australis is restricted to Fiordland and Stewart Island, with an isolated population near Haast, New Zealand. Some birds from the Haast population have been established since 2000 at a pest-free mainland sanctuary (Orokonui, Ecosanctuary near Dunedin) and on three pest-free islands (Pomona, Coal and Rarotoka). Northern Fiordland birds occur from near Milford Sound to Doubtful Sound and Lake Manapouri, including Secretary Island. Southern Fiordland birds are found from Doubtful Sound and Lake Manapouri to near the southern coast of Fiordland, including Resolution Island and several smaller islands in Dusky Sound where birds were introduced over 100 years ago (Colbourne 2005). The two Fiordland taxa overlap in a narrow zone north of Wilmot Pass (H.A. Robertson in litt. 2016). Stewart Island birds are found throughout the main island, though they are scarce north of Paterson Inlet and the Ruggedy Mountains (Heather and Robertson 2015). Some have been introduced to Ulva Island since 1950 and a few are present on Pearl, Bravo and Owen islands (Colbourne 2005, Heather and Robertson 2015, H.A. Robertson in litt. 2016).
Monitoring is nationally coordinated, and uses call-counts, specially-trained dogs searching for banded birds, and radio-tracking (Holzapfel et al. 2008). Intensive management involving predator control and removing and incubating eggs and returning subadults once large enough to fend off predators is taking place within the Haast population. The latter approach has been used at Haast since 1995 under the name Operation Nest Egg (ONE) (Colbourne et al. 2005), and has succeeded in increasing the population of A. australis 'Haast' (Holzapfel et al. 2008, Robertson & de Monchy 2012) which is now thought to number 450 birds in total (Germano et al. 2018). Research has focused on the Haast, Clinton valley, Murchison Mountains and Stewart Island populations, and involves taxonomy, investigating the effects of predators and their management, ecology and the social structure of populations (Robertson and de Monchy 2012, Tansell et al. 2016, H.A. Robertson in litt. 2016).
Conservation Actions Proposed
Increase the proportion of the kiwi population that is managed and control predators at a landscape scale to produce growth rates of 2% per year or greater (Germano et al. 2018). Measure the response of kiwi to management to determine optimal landscape-scale management (Germano et al. 2018). Survey populations in Fiordland and undertake population modelling of all taxa. Clarify the taxonomy of the species. Research reasons for low productivity in the Haast population. Evaluate the success of translocations and support the development of a structured captive breeding programme; Collar and Butchart (2013) suggest that captive breeding should be considered although conversely, is not considered useful by the Recovery Team (Holzapfel et al. 2008). Intensively manage the Haast population and at least one other mainland population using the ONE programme with the goal of doubling the population (Holzapfel et al. 2008). Investigate landscape-scale remote monitoring techniques for sparse populations (Holzapfel et al. 2008). Maintain the mustelid-free status of Stewart Island and investigate the possibility of eradicating cats from the island (H.A. Robertson in litt. 2016). Promote legislative and policy changes to protect populations and encourage high-quality advocacy at all levels (Robertson 1998, Holzapfel et al. 2008). Educate and inform the public and encourage community involvement in kiwi conservation (Robertson 2003, Holzapfel et al. 2008).