Stock fences were installed to protect the bush, flax (Phormium tenax) and kauri (Agathis australis) were planted and pest controls were implemented.

[3] Native plants on the island now include kānuka (Kunzea robusta), mapou (Myrsine australis) and some pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa).

Across New Zealand 94% of chicks die before breeding in areas where mammalian pest control is not carried out.

[6] Between the years 1996 and 2006, total North Island brown kiwi numbers dropped by 15,000 birds.

Three North Island brown kiwi breeding pairs were transported from Waitangi in 1982.

[1] In 2024, a local landowner said there was "great debate" over how many kiwi live on the island, but "estimates range from 100–300".

[4] In 2009 the Department of Conservation received a report of a kiwi trapped in the WWII gun emplacements at the eastern end of the island – volunteers successfully found and freed the bird.

[9] In 1983, seven New Zealand bellbirds (Anthornis melanura) were introduced to the island, however this was unsuccessful and after a few weeks they were not seen again.

[3] Another competitor and predator of small native birds is the common myna (Acridotheres tristis) - a species introduced from India in the 1870s.

The first thing he saw was the tattooed head of a Māori chief "stuck on a pole near the hut" where he was to sleep.