Manukura (1 May 2011 – 27 December 2020), a North Island brown kiwi, was the first pure white kiwi born in captivity.[1] After Manukura's hatching, two additional white birds were also born in captivity.[2]
Manukura was born in the Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre. The bird was born in May 2011 with a rare genetic condition that made it all white, instead of brown.[3]
She was named by Rangitāne leader, Mike Kawana; her name is the Māori word for "chiefly status."[4]
Manukura was believed to be a male for the first year of life, but then caretakers discovered she was a female bird.[5] In 2014, Manukura was caught on film engaging in a noisy mating ritual which involved her "beating" her male partner.[6]
She died in December 2020 after having surgery to remove her ovaries and an unfertilised egg that she struggled to pass naturally.[7]
Author Joy Cowley wrote a children's book, illustrated by Bruce Potter, about Manukura in 2012.[8] Toy manufacturers and New Zealand museums created plush replicas of the rare bird over the years.[9] [10]