A record number of kiwis are set to be released into the wild from New Zealand's largest hatchery as the season wraps up.
The 145 chicks are being released back into the forest after the youngest one hatched on April 13. The number is up from 133 chicks last year.
In total, 1923 kiwi chicks have been looked after at the National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, formerly named Kiwi Encounter. The number includes kiwi that were taken into the hatchery as eggs, as well as chicks that had hatched in the wild.
Kiwi husbandry manager Emma Bean says the hatchery’s hatch success rate this season is a higher than average rate of 95.8 per cent.
"To have 145 kiwi chicks heading out into the forests around the North Island is fantastic for our conservation journey."
Department of Conservation kiwi recovery group leader Jess Scrimgeour says the success "is a testament to the skill and dedication of the kiwi team".
But the season, was also helped by a battery and solar power package from Mercury which provided reliable back-up power for its incubators.
"We can have more than 40 eggs at the hatchery at one time, so having battery power as a back-up is a fantastic addition to the work that we are doing to save kiwi. If the incubators turn off, the eggs could cool down and die," Ms Bean says.
The record-breaking year may also have been made possible in part to a new brooder room supplied by Kiwis for Kiwi - enabling the hatchery to care for more kiwi chicks.
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