I was quite mind blown to see that we (specifically, Department Of Conservation) have what appears to be a serious kiwis safety issue on our hands in Northland.

For some reason the Herald chose to make this a really small story yesterday. They do this sometimes, something that is actually quite a big deal gets given very little attention.

They’ve reported that we’ve had “just under 90 kiwi deaths (in Northland alone)” since 2022. Just under 90 deaths probably means, 90 deaths. At least.

To people overseas that may not sound like a lot but it actually is. Kiwis are terrible at breeding. They are an endangered species (DOC estimates the population to be around 70,000). The Department Of Conservation is very much responsible for making sure they don’t become extinct. But, also, it is fair to say that we all should feel that we share some responsibility.

Yesterday’s article attributes dog attacks to being very much the primary cause of death for Northland kiwis. Which is something that I haven’t noticed being publicised previously.

The second highest cause of death (apparently) appears to be by being struck by motor vehicle with 10 being killed by vehicles in 2022 and 11 so far this year.

So the dogs hunting kiwis cause of death in Northland is clearly a much, much, bigger concern. Which the Herald doesn’t seem very interested in. I am really surprised that DOC aren’t running some kind of publicity campaign about this. Are these stray / wild dogs? Or owned dogs? Both? That raises questions about dog ownership in Northland and the lack of concern shown by those people (lack of decency) and possibly not enough concern being shown by DOC.