A record number of Kiwi chicks have been hatched in breeding facilities this year.
Of the 226 eggs successfully hatched, more than half were born at Rotorua's Kiwi Encounter centre.
The executive director of BNZ's Save the Kiwi trust, Michelle Impey, says kiwis in its Operation Nest Egg project have a 65% chance of reaching adulthood, compared to 5% in the wild.
The eggs are taken to the breeding centres halfway through their incubation where they stay until they regain their birthweight.
They are then transferred to a predator-free island or fenced area and released into the wild when they weigh more than a kilo.
