The San Diego Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center is caring for a brown kiwi chick for the first time in more than a decade. The female chick hatched from its egg March 11, and as typical of this species, didn’t eat for the first six days. The chick began eating and gaining weight last week, and on April 5, 2016, it weighed 11.8 ounces (333.6 grams). It is typical for this bird species to lose weight for two weeks after it has hatched. Animal care staff report the female chick lost 26 percent of her body weight before she began gaining weight the last week of March. The kiwi has several unusual traits, for a bird: It does not fly, the mothers do not feed their chicks, and the egg is four times the expected size for a bird of the kiwi’s proportions. Animal care staff will continue to monitor the brown kiwi chick, measuring its weight and observing the young bird in a brooder over the next several weeks. The San Diego Zoo successfully reared its first brown kiwi in 1983. This hatching marks the Zoo’s 11th chick. The San Diego Zoo is one of just six zoos in the United States working with these endangered birds. Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes on-site wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The important conservation and science work of these entities is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.
The San Diego Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center is caring for a brown kiwi chick for the first time in more than a decade. Photo courtesy San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo announced Wednesday the hatching of a brown kiwi chick for the first time in more than a decade.

The female emerged from its egg March 11 at the zoo’s Avian Propagation Center and is being monitored by animal care staff. Zoo officials didn’t say when the previous brown kiwi hatching at the facility occurred.

According to the zoo, the chick didn’t eat for six days and lost 26 percent of her body weight, which is typical for the species. Weight gain began last week, and she checked-in at 11.8 ounces on Tuesday.

The kiwi has several unusual traits for a bird species — it does not fly, the mothers do not feed their chicks, and the egg is four times the expected size for a bird of the kiwi’s proportions.

The chick is the 11th member of the endangered species hatched at the zoo, which reared its first brown kiwi in 1983. The zoo is one of six in the U.S. working with the species.

—City News Service