May 28, 2020
Mighty totara to have new role in wildlife centre
After a year-long effort, a 900-year-old totara log has been extracted from a Wairarapa creek and gifted to Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre.
Cultural advisor Wayne Pitau from Ngāti Hamua and Rangitāne will oversee the transformation of the 10-tonne, 7-metre trunk into 11 carvings for the centre’s new education building.
He says the artwork will be another way to share with visitors the iwi’s perspective of the native wildlife.
The extraction from the Wakamoekau Creek property owned by farmer Richard White was funded by Greater Wellington Regional Council, the Department of Conservation and JPS Earthmoving.
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