© Agence France-PresseA newly born kiwi chick at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch
Named Richter, after the scale of the 7.0-magnitude quake this month, the chick hatched at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch.
"Our first egg hatch this year is one breakage that is a welcome relief after the recent quakes," Kate Wilkinson, the country's Conservation Minister, said.
The ground-dwelling kiwi, the avian symbol of New Zealand, is threatened by a host of introduced predators including rats, cats, dogs, ferrets and possums.
Rory Newsam, a Department of Conservation spokesman, said there were fewer than 70,000 kiwis left in New Zealand and the rowi, the subspecies to which Richter belongs, numbered only 300.
Mr Newsam said Richter's egg rolled round in its incubator during the September 4 earthquake but rubber matting prevented any damage.
He said the chick would be taken to a small island sanctuary until it was about a year old and better able to defend itself, then released into a wildlife protection area on the South Island.
...how will it learn to defend itself?
"He said the chick would be taken to a small island sanctuary until it was about a year old and better able to defend itself..."