Did you know that cat biscuits are part of the diet for our kiwi here at Kiwi Park?! Yes, really!
Recently, we welcomed the lovely Hayley from Fortis behind the scenes to join our Wildlife Team for a special kiwi health check and see firsthand where some of Fortis’ incredibly generous donations go.
As New Zealand’s only locally owned veterinary wholesaler, Fortis supports veterinary professionals, animal carers and organisations across the country, with a strong passion for animal health, welfare and conservation. And here at Kiwi Park, their support includes supplying a slightly unexpected item on the kiwi menu… cat biscuits!
So, why cat biscuits?
Kiwi are omnivores with a surprisingly varied diet. In the wild, they spend their nights probing through the forest floor for earthworms, insects, grubs and other invertebrates, as well as occasionally eating seeds, berries and other plant material. Brown kiwi have even been known to eat frogs and freshwater crayfish!
At Kiwi Park, our kiwi are fed a specially formulated diet designed by Massey University and used for kiwi in human care across New Zealand. Cat biscuits provide protein alongside other important nutrients such as carbohydrates, healthy fats and calcium. Once blended into their diet, they even add a little crunch – just like some of the insects kiwi would naturally find in the wild!
And it’s not just what they eat that matters, but how they eat it.
Alongside scatter-feeding insects, our Wildlife Team places their prepared diet into tubes pushed down into the substrate. This encourages the kiwi to use their incredible sense of smell and long beaks to probe into the ground for their food, just as they would in the wild.
A little help goes a long way
As a family-owned and operated wildlife sanctuary, Kiwi Park receives no ongoing government funding for our day-to-day conservation work. Instead, our work is made possible through admission and souvenir sales, donations, and the generosity of organisations like Fortis.
Their support directly contributes to the everyday care of our kiwi and other precious native species, and we couldn’t be more grateful. From our entire team, and some very well-fed kiwi, thank you, Fortis, for your incredible generosity and for helping us continue the conservation work we love.
