Our B:HIVE kiwi conservators have been a tad busy over lockdown.
First there’s the name change – from Kiwis for kiwi to “Save the Kiwi”. And a little bird tells me that The Hatchery, a branding agency at the B:HIVE, helped with the rebrand.
Next came scoring New Zealand’s GOAT in a boat – Lisa Carrington. For those of you who are not sure what that means , it’s the title “Greatest of All Time – in a boat” that the NZ Herald gave Carrington after she won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Carrington has become the latest Save the Kiwi ambassador, joining Sir John Key and Helen Clark among others. Part of Carrington’s involvement with Save the Kiwi will include an education campaign about dogs and kiwi over the summer holidays, featuring her own canine Colin.
Carrington said serving as an ambassador was one way she can give back to New Zealand after receiving so much support during her Olympic campaign this year.
“The kiwi is so important to our identity as New Zealanders; not only are we known as ‘Kiwis’ around the world, Aotearoa has such unique wildlife,” she said. “I want to be a part of it surviving for the future generations.” Carrington was named an ambassador during Save the Kiwi Week late October.
The team gave us a couple of facts to think about: An average of 27 kiwi are killed by predators every week. That’s a population decline of around 1,400 kiwi every year, or two per cent. At this rate, kiwi may disappear from the mainland in our lifetime. Just one hundred years ago, kiwi numbered in the millions. A single roaming dog can wipe out an entire kiwi population in a matter of days.
For more information, and to check out Save the Kiwi’s new re-brand click here.