Kiwi Encounter — Rotorua, New Zealand

Kiwi are unique and command a position all their own in the bird world due to their evolution and geographic isolation on the island of New Zealand. Despite their status as a treasured icon and the national emblem of New Zealand, the kiwi teeters on the brink of extinction. The kiwi population drops by half every ten years, and without human intervention, it has a survival rate of only 5% in the wild.

Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy and A&K Australia & New Zealand support the Kiwi Encounter project, an effort of the National Kiwi Trust to increase the numbers of this beloved bird.

In appreciation, A&K New Zealand was given the opportunity of naming and monitoring the birth, life and growth of our own kiwi chick. Honore Jorie, named in honor of Abercrombie & Kent Vice Chairman Jorie Butler Kent who guides A&K Philanthropy, was born in September 2008, and soon became affectionately called H.J. by all at the Kiwi Encounter nature center. H.J., a male, stayed at the center until reaching an age and weight suitable to defend itself from the small mammal that is the kiwi’s biggest predator, the stoat. H.J.'s release in January was celebrated with a naming ceremony by the local Maori tribe.

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