The National Kiwi Centre, Hokitika
The National Kiwi Centre is situated in the heart of Hokitika in an undercover facility that provides a guaranteed viewing of kiwi in our nocturnal house that replicates their natural environment. During your visit you can take part in feeding the giant eels (10am, 12 noon and 3pm daily). The eels are approximately 85 to 100 years old. You can view the tuatara then wander through to see whitebait in various stages of their life and see other west coast creatures of the night.
Saving Our National Icon
The kiwi is New Zealand's national icon and part of our world-wide image. New Zealanders have been "Kiwis" since the days of the First World War. It's a nickname bestowed by fellow Australian soldiers, and it stuck. Today our identity as Kiwis is based around our national bird.
Kiwi are a natural fit with New Zealanders' national psyche - we relate to their quirkiness, evolved over millions of years of isolation from mammals.
Tuatara
New Zealand's oldest living dinosaur! These amazing reptiles have been around for approximately 220 million years. Two tuatara are on display here. One male and one female, both aged 19 years of age. During the summer they bask in the sun and in winter time they will hide in their burrows so sometimes can not be seen.
The Long-Finned Eel
The long-finned eel, or as the Maori call them, tuna, can be found throughout New Zealand in rivers and inland lakes. The eels you see here are female, between 85 and 100 years old. They weigh approximately 20kg and are up to 2 metres in length. The eel grows very slowly at a rate of 15-25mm per year!
BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust
This programme enables the kiwi sanctuaries in Okarito and Haast to be carefully monitored and the kiwi eggs to be taken to Willowbank where they are hatched, then the chicks sent to predator free islands. Here they spend 12 months reaching "stoat proof" size before returning to their home forests on the West Coast.