The Department of Conservation says the rowi kiwi population is still growing, despite the deaths of nine chicks in Wellington.
Eight of the rare chicks died at the Wellington Zoo and the other at Massey University after they contracted a respiratory infection.
The zoo veterinary science manager Lisa Argilla says the chicks had been brought in for treatment after a parasite was found under their skin.
Once in Wellington, they breathed in spores of the fungus, aspergillosis, which was in the bark in their zoo hospital enclosure and developed problems.
Ms Argilla said they were not expecting the fungus to be present at the zoo hospital.
DoC says the deaths of the kiwi chics is tragic, but won't affect their breeding programme.
The West Coast wildlife centre currently has 20 kiwi eggs waiting to hatch and Franz Josef biodiversity manager Jo Macpherson is confident the birds will recover in terms of numbers.
