Kupe House Helping to Save National Icon
Posted on October 19, 2016
On Wednesday morning Kupe Service Captains Olivia Richards and Damon Choi presented Kiwis for Kiwi Executive Director Michelle Impey with a cheque for $6,444.
The students of Kupe House raised this impressive sum of money with the aim of supporting Kiwis for Kiwi in their work to boost overall kiwi numbers and provide safe habitats for kiwis to breed.
New Zealand’s kiwi population is estimated to be around 68,000 nationwide and currently declining at a rate of -2% per annum. This is over 20 birds a week. But Michelle Impey told Kupe students that due to their hard work and range of conservation efforts we are now on the verge of turning this into positive population growth.
Kupe House worked hard throughout the year to increase their annual donation given to the Kiwis for Kiwi to help Michelle and her team reach their new goal “Target 2%”.
Michelle talked passionately about the need for all New Zealanders to take part in halting the decline by
- Controlling dogs in natural habitats (uncontrolled pet dogs are among the top three killers of adult kiwi)
- Having pets such as cats de sexed to reduce the number of abandoned wild pets
- Contributing to personal conservation efforts by setting traps for pests such as possums and rats
Kupe House has been a long time contributor to the conservation of Kiwi and since Michelle started with the trust estimates the contribution from Kupe House to be in excess of $60,000. She expressed her gratitude to all the students and staff of Kupe for their continued efforts to save Kiwi from extinction.
Members of the Macleans College community and Macleans Alumni are encouraged to contribute to the National fundraising drive by donating on the Kiwis for Kiwi website.