Wriggly Kiwi at the Columbus Zoo

Today we had an appointment at the Columbus Zoo to see their Kiwi chicks. The Columbus Zoo birds are very well cared by their keepers. Three new kiwi chicks hatched this year. Toa who hatched in mid June was in a nocturnal house display area. Toa, like all kiwi, is very wriggly and hard to photograph. Normally, he lives in a larger enclosure with his siblings, parents and other North Island Brown Kiwi away from the public's eye. We watched Toa and 6-year old Justus for quite a while. Well worth the trip. I bet most people do not know that there are only 6 zoos in the USA which have Kiwi. And that the Columbus Zoo is a real forerunner for breeding Kiwi in captivity. Without human intervention 95% of New Zealand's wild-born Kiwi chicks are taken by predators.

Toa