30.07.2024
The Capital Kiwi Project | transporting our national bird
What does the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Cactus Outdoor, young Wellington architects, Maungatautari mud, a fashion stylist and Mākara scrub have in common? Capital Kiwi's kiwi transporter bags.
Kiwi are tough, feisty animals; their sharp dinosaur claws mean that moving them requires care – handlers have scars to prove it – and catch bags are a unique design challenge.
In early 2023 Nouveau, a toey male kiwi, needed a visit to Wellington Zoo Te Nukuao for a check-up on a leg infection. Capital Kiwi only had a pillow case to hand to ferry him. In the ~50m uphill to the vehicle Nouveau shredded the case to rags. Prior, they had used corflute transporter boxes, but the kiwi banged about against their edges; and the boxes were unwieldy in the scrub.
Inspired by a bag she’d used at Maungatautari, Capital Kiwi handler Christine created a version fit for Welly’s wild west. The team wears Cactus kit and Christine knew that their SOS trouser fabric would meet the flexible-but-tough brief.
The bag passed the Terawhiti hill test. Capital Kiwi needed another 30 bags for kiwi catching. Cactus Outdoors donated the fabric, and the call was put out to the community for sewers.
Dozens of offers came in, from Spotlight to local knitting clubs, and… the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s costume department. RNZB are more used to Swan Lake tutus, but our costume department are experts at doing finesse in bulk, and they stitched up the kiwi totes in short time. (Stylist Chloe Hill helped connect the fabric with the people.)
Capital Kiwi’s designer Max suggested that tamariki come up with art-work for the labels; the brief was “imagine your ideal kiwi home”. Four designs were selected (from local schools Samuel Marsden Collegiate School and St Teresa’s School Karori).
The bags did everyone proud during catching – it was special for the team to be placing the manu into bags tagged with the manaaki of the their future guardians. The young artists were able to attend April’s kiwi release.
The bags have also been used for health checks on our kiwi chicks: the ultimate kick of approval.
This ‘making of’ bags story captures some of the Pōneke partnership behind the return of kiwi to the region; southerly-fuelled pragmatism, creativity and community. Go kiwi!