Conservation staff are appalled by the discovery of two more dead kiwis killed by dogs at the Riponui Scenic Reserve in Northland yesterday (23.12.04).

The two dead birds were breeding adults, and were discovered by Department of Conservation rangers while undertaking their trapping and monitoring work in the reserve.

DOC Trapper, Terry Johnson, said, “When I found one of the birds, it was badly mauled and heavily bruised, the tell-tale signs of a dog attack.”

Despite intensive management efforts by DOC, the grim discoveries yesterday bring the number of kiwi casualties at Riponui Scenic Reserve to five for the year.

Kiwi Ranger, Peter Graham, said, “This is a huge problem but at the current rate it may not be a problem for long, because there will simply be no kiwi left out there.” Dogs have wiped out the majority of the breeding kiwi at the Riponui block Mr. Graham said.

The dogs find kiwi irresistible and they can kill the birds simply by picking them up in their mouths.

Kiwi ranger, Sue Bell commented that, “The birds smell incredibly sweet to dogs, and when they scurry off dogs like to chase and catch them.”

One of the dead birds had no band or transmitter. This makes it difficult to gauge the impact on the population because not all of the birds are monitored.

DOC’s Programme Manager for Kiwi, Clea Gardiner, said that, “The overall picture is bound to be worse than we actually know, because we don’t really know how many kiwi deaths we don’t see.”

One of the birds was such a prolific breeder that in the year before its death it incubated three eggs and successfully raised the chicks.

“In the past the kiwi that we’ve been managing intensively have been incredibly successful at raising chicks, but this won’t continue if we keep losing breeding pairs like this,” Ms. Gardiner said.

Despite the recent losses, kiwi staff will intensify their efforts to prevent further kiwi deaths and increase public awareness, by distributing news letters and facts sheets, and involving dog control rangers in daily operations.

DOC kiwi staff have already convened community meetings, and speak regularly to people they meet in the field about the threat of roaming dogs.