WELLINGTON: The only white kiwi born on care in New Zealand before November has died after a surgical failure that people have expressed deep regret over.
The white female kiwi, born in May 2011, has been dubbed the Mankura. He was born at the Peokaha Wildlife Center, 125 kilometers from the capital, Wellington. Due to the rare genetic condition, Mankura was completely white. His birth was celebrated by the local tribes as a sign of good fortune.
Joey Cowley, a children’s author, also wrote a book called Mankura, on which many cartoons and toys were made. That is why people are mourning his death.
For ten consecutive years, this white kiwi was in the news and was given special attention. In early December, he stopped eating and began to lose weight rapidly. They then noticed that Mankura had laid an egg that was incomplete. After that, the concern of the experts increased and the best bird experts were called from all over the country.
Then another egg was seen which was surgically removed and despite a thousand attempts the operation failed. According to animal protection experts in New Zealand, there are now only 68,000 kiwis left in the world. Every year their population is declining by 2% in which they fall prey to dogs, cats and wild animals. These deaths occur in forests and natural environments, which is why large numbers of kiwis are regularly cared for in a fence.