Staff at Auckland Zoo have delicately removed a leg cast from a kiwi injured by a car.
The North Island brown kiwi was hatched at the zoo in 2007 and released near Whangarei in October last year.
The bird was put under anaesthetic for the removal of the cast, the first to be fitted to a kiwi, but x-rays showed another will have to be fitted to help the slow healing process.
When it has recovered it will again be fitted with a transmitter and released in Northland.