Kiwis Relocate to US

New Zealand Ambassador Roy Ferguson officially presented America’s National Zoo with a pair of rare kiwi. The handover took place in Front Royal, Virginia at the Zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The Zoo will use these birds to establish a new breeding centre. The pair consists of a male named Tamatahi, meaning first-born son, and a female, Hinetu, meaning proud woman. Scientists at the Institute hope to become the first to successfully artificially inseminate a kiwi. Upon arrival in Front Royal, the birds were blessed in a traditional Maori ceremony. When the birds eventually pass away, their remains will be sent back to New Zealand for tribal burial.