Taupō's Kiwi Burrow is celebrating a landmark 300th hatched kiwi chick.

Chick number 300, who has been named Mahura, was taken from Mt Messenger in Taranaki.

The name was given to him or her – only once the chick is DNA tested will its carers know the sex – by Ngāti Tama, the area’s iwi.

It hatched on October 2 around 3pm, weighing in at a healthy 336 grams.

Once Mahura is around three weeks old, it will be released into a safely fenced creche area, either within Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary or at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari near Cambridge.

Mahura is part of Save the Kiwi’s Operation Nest Egg strategy, which cares for young kiwi until they are at a weight high enough to fend off introduced mammalian predators.

Eggs are collected from all over the North Island and brought to facilities like the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow, where they are raised safe from predators before being re-released into the wild.

The Gallagher Kiwi Burrow – previously known as the Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow – has been open since October 2019 to safely incubate and hatch the threatened North Island brown kiwi.

Gallagher, which has recently been rebranded from Crombie Lockwood, is a long-standing partner of Save the Kiwi.

This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air