Email #21: Howie, the Kiwi Bird (4/29/16)

Howie is amongst the last 100,000 of his breed, the New Zealand kiwi bird. If you think 100,000 of a species is a lot, let me enlighten you. It isn’t.

At their peak there were 12 million kiwi birds but over a century of ” progress” – including the introduction of feral dogs, feral cats, rats etc. to their environment and man’s elimination of the areas in which they live and breed – they’ve nearly all disappeared from the earth.

We should be disgusted. And we should be terrified. Disgusted because we actively participated in the near destruction of this remarkable species, and terrified that this is by no means an isolated case. Thousands upon thousands of wildlife species are now facing extinction due to our behavior on this earth. Can you imagine a world with no wildlife ? I can’t.

Are we really heading towards a Mad Max type scenario where one tree is all that survives out of the hundreds of billions on earth today? It certainly seems that way. The climate is changing rapidly. Anyone who argues otherwise is simply trying to justify political policies or lifestyle choices. We have to change the way we think and the way we live or the kiwi birds simply have no shot.

Anyway, back to Howie.

I experienced personally, literally in my arms , the awesome power a single man can have. Let me explain.

Julian Robertson, a hugely successful businessman, is an enormously important humanitarian and conservationist. He bought three major tracts of land in New Zealand and has overseen and funded all sorts of projects to restore land and trees to native conditions, to increase the local bird populations and to save the kiwi bird.

Through his efforts large – and I do mean large – tracts of land were put aside for the protection of these birds. He invested in building special fences to keep out the animals who eat the birds and their eggs when they are first born. He is supporting hundreds of dedicated people who do the very hard day-to-day work of protecting this precious bird.

I was fortunate.

Because of Julian Robertson I held a new kiwi bird named Howie who is watched, protected and nurtured by special conservancy people.

It was a once in a lifetime experience and it I was only fortunate enough to have it because one man decided to take action and set his sights on reviving a species.

How cool is that?

It is exactly what Areena is all about.

Art Gurwitz

Founder, Areena

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AREENA

From New York, NY 10036

To find out more about the project, contact Executive Director Jeff Hughes
Jeff@TheAreena.com

Contact

347-642-9326

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