Cambridge’s Mike Panther is one of 200 volunteers
Former pilot Mike Panther is still flying high – as a volunteer on the ground, protecting Kiwi at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
Panther, 70, a former pilot and instructor, is among the 200 volunteers who help keep the sanctuary on Tari Road in Waipa operating.
Cambridge’s Mike Panther is one of 200 volunteers helping keep Sanctuary Mountain Mangatautiri operating, checking predator traps and caring for birds including 3,300 Kiwi living in the fenced conservation area. Photo: Michelle Lachmann
Chief executive Helen Hughes told The News the help of volunteers was crucial to the Sanctuary’s operations.
The sanctuary “simply wouldn’t operate without them”.
Panther started volunteering with predator trapping and feeding birds at the sanctuary in 2024, after moving to Cambridge from Auckland where he retired from a 50-year career in aviation.
He said his love of planes was matched with his love of helping protect a bird as iconic as the kiwi, and other native birds including the takahe and hihi.
“I very quickly moved from never having seen a kiwi in the wild to being trained in the art of safe handling and capture of the birds.”
He volunteered on average about 25 hours a month, keeping fit by walking about 50km around the sanctuary. Helping with the translocation of kiwi and the annual kiwi muster had been highlights.
“I was initially worried as to whether my physical ability would keep pace, but even though a day on the main mountain is like five hours as a pilot, it’s an invigorating experience,” Panther said.
The volunteering was immensely rewarding, especially when he saw the pressure paid staff were under to keep the sanctuary successfully operating.
Hughes said the sanctuary’s volunteers were from all walks of life and as young as 16 years old, up to 80 years.
They were a crucial part of the team, bringing a diverse skillset with them, she said.
Cambridge’s Mike Panther is one of 200 volunteers helping keep Sanctuary Mountain Mangatautiri operating, checking predator traps and caring for birds including 3,300 Kiwi living in the fenced conservation area. Photo: Michelle Lachmann
