You may have noticed when you book with NZET there is an opportunity to make a donation to a kiwi recovery programme. For every dollar donated, NZET matches the donation and sends the funds off to our friends at The national Kiwi Hatchery Aoteroa in Rotorua who are doing their part to save the native New Zealand kiwi.

The country's largest kiwi hatchery is celebrating an "exceptional" hatching season including an unprecedented hatch success rate.

As the season ends, The National kiwi Hatchery (Formerly Kiwi Encounter) is reporting a 98.4 per cent hatch success rate – almost 4 per cent higher than its average over the last decade.

We're so proud to be working in partnership with Kiwi Encounter to help increase the numbers of kiwi in New Zealand.

The Department of Conservation has also endorsed Kiwi Encounter for making a difference in the lives of kiwi.

DOC technical adviser ecology Jess Scrimgeour said it had come as no surprise that Kiwi Encounter continued to improve on their own high standard.

"The release of 133 kiwi back in to the wild this season is a real boost to kiwi conservation," she said.

Highlights of the Rainbow Springs' Kiwi Encounter 2017/18 Hatching Season:
- 133 healthy chicks raised and released
- 124 successful hatches
- An unprecedented 98.4 per cent hatch success rate
- Creating and publishing the first blog series written from the perspective of a kiwi – designed to educate the public on the life of a chick at the hatchery.
- Recording and publishing incredibly rare time-lapse footage of two kiwi chicks hatching.

NZET will continue to support programmes like this in order to ensure that our visitors to New Zealand have the most authentic ‘Kiwi’ experience possible.

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