The kahu was brought to Queenstown's Kiwi Birdlife Park from the Department of Conservation with an injured wing to rehabilitate before being released back into the wild.
Assistant park manager Nicole Kunzmann said the ''very, very hungry'' hawk will eat either two possums or three rabbits a week and staff were hoping ''some nice farmers or hunters'' would help feed it.
To meet its nutritional needs, the hawk needs prey complete with bones and fur.
Mrs Kunzmann said the park could freeze any surplus rabbits or possums and the animals would need to be shot using bullets that were not lead.
The hawk was found in Wanaka.
As hawks will eat road kill they often become victims themselves, which is how this hawk might have become injured.
Once the hawk recovers it would be released in the area where it was found.
