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If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page, after the Vocabulary. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.

If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.

1. Listening for main ideas

First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?

2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:

1. Where was a kiwi pukupuku discovered earlier this year?





2. Why are conservationists very surprised and excited?





3. Who is Brew and what can he do?





4. What do kiwi pukupuku look like?





5. When did kiwi pukupuku become extinct on the North Island?





6. When were they last seen in the wild in the South Island?





7. How many other species of kiwi are there?





8. How many kiwi are left?

3. Language focus: The passive

Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the passive voice, then read or listen to the text to check your answers.

1. Earlier this year a little spotted kiwi, called a kiwi pukupuku in Māori, _______  _______ (discover) on the West Coast of the South Island. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that this type of kiwi _______  _______  _______ (find) in the wild on the mainland.





2. The little spotted kiwi _______ first _______ in March… (sight)





3. …a biodiversity ranger, Iain Graham, from the Department of Conservation _______ _______  _______ (fly in) to find the bird.





4. Brew _______  _______ specially _______ to detect native birds without hurting them. (train)





5. …and _______ last _______ in the wild on the South Island in 1978. (see)





6. It _______  _______ that there were only about 2000 surviving on offshore islands (think)





7. …40 of these kiwi _______  _______ from Kapiti Island… (move)

Text

Earlier this year a little spotted kiwi, called a kiwi pukupuku in Māori, was discovered on the West Coast of the South Island. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that this type of kiwi has been found in the wild on the mainland, so conservationists are very surprised and excited.

The little spotted kiwi was first sighted in March in a remote area of the West Coast. After that, a biodiversity ranger, Iain Graham, from the Department of Conservation was flown in to find the bird. He took his conservation dog called Brew. Brew has been specially trained to detect native birds without hurting them. They could hear the kiwi calling at night and knew that they didn’t sound like other kiwi, but it took them a few days to find one. It was a female bird, and later they returned to the area and found a male kiwi pukupuku.

The kiwi pukupuku is the smallest of the five kiwi species. They weigh only 1 kilogram and have quite a round belly. That is why they’re called pukupuku in Māori, as pukupuku means ‘be swollen’. They have soft, brownish grey feathers with white spots, which is why they’re called little spotted kiwi in English. They were once common throughout the country but became extinct on the North Island by the 1870s and were last seen in the wild on the South Island in 1978. It was thought that there were only about 2000 surviving on offshore islands, such as Kapiti Island, and fenced predator-free sites, such as Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington. In May this year, 40 of these kiwi were moved from Kapiti Island to a sanctuary in Nelson. Kiwi pukupuku are extremely vulnerable to introduced predators such as stoats, cats, and dogs.

There are four other species of kiwi: the brown kiwi, which live on the North Island; the great spotted kiwi or roroa, which live mainly in the mountains in the top half of the South Island; the rowi, which are the rarest and which live in South Westland and two predator-free islands of Marlborough Sounds; and the tokoeka, which live in the mountains in South Westland and Stewart Island. In total, there are about 70,000 kiwi left.

If you want more listening practice on this topic, listen to Baby kiwi near Wellington from November 2023.

Vocabulary

mainland – the main area of land that forms a country, and not including the islands around it. For New Zealand, ‘the mainland’ can refer to the North and South Islands. However, some people in the South Island say ‘the mainland’ just for the South Island.

conservationist – someone who works to protect animals, birds, and the environment

conservation – the protection of the natural environment

sight – (verb) to see something from a long distance away, or to see something you’ve been looking for

remote – far from towns or other places where people live

biodiversity – the variety of plants and animals in a place

ranger – someone who looks after a forest or area of countryside.

species – a group of animals or plants which are similar and can have young animals or plants

belly – in this context, the middle part of the bird’s body

brownish – a kind of brown, quite brown. The suffix -ish added to a colour means

extinct – if a type of bird or animal is extinct, it no longer exists, or there are no more of that type

offshore – existing in the sea, not far from the land

predator – animals that hunt other animals

sanctuary – an area for animals or birds where they are protected and cannot be hunted

stoat – a small wild animal that has a long thin body and brown fur

Answers – you don’t have to write a complete sentence as long as you have the key idea in your answer.

a. Where was a kiwi pukupuku discovered earlier this year?

On the West Coast of the South Island

b. Why are conservationists very surprised and excited?

This is the first time in nearly 50 years that this type of kiwi has been found in the wild on the mainland

c. Who is Brew and what can he do?

He’s a conservation dog; he’s been specially trained to detect native birds without hurting them

d. What do kiwi pukupuku look like?

They are small with a round belly; they have soft, brownish grey feathers with white spots

e. When did kiwi pukupuku become extinct on the North Island?

By the 1870s

f. When were they last seen in the wild in the South Island?

1978

g. How many other species of kiwi are there?

Four other species

h. How many kiwi are left?

About 70,000