Pete Graham

As well as monitoring wild-hatched chicks, this Department of Conservation ranger works with pig hunters’ dogs, training them to avoid kiwi.  It’s a great chance to spread the word about the threat uncontrolled dogs pose, Pete says. ‘We talk with about 150 pig hunters a year, letting them know where kiwi live, helping them to train their dogs to stay close and avoid kiwi. They’re keen to catch pigs, and well-trained dogs catch more pigs, so we talk about that.’  

Pete also encourages hunters to use tracking collars, so they can keep tabs on any dogs that get lost in the bush.  Although expensive, about $1000 for a collar and receiver, the Department and a local marae have bought a set, which hunters from the hapu can use.

Pete’s main asset in his ranger’s job is his dog, Hungarian vizsla Rua. Rua is the son of a previous specially trained dog Pete owned, called Manu, and for a time the two formed an effective mother and son team.

Pete likes vislas as working dogs.  His first job in the Whangarei kiwi sanctuary was trapping kiwi predators, and he wanted a dog to help sniff out stoats and wild cats.  He chose the vizsla, a short-haired pointer breed, rather than the oft-used Labrador. ‘I was working around traps and poisons and it was a bit high risk to have a stomach on legs.’ And the thought of putting his back out lifting a hefty labrador over fences didn’t appeal.

Why kiwi?

Pete’s predator plan went awry when his first dog, Manu, ignored the cat poo she was meant to lock on, and kept showing him kiwi. ‘She’s the reason I work with kiwi.’  Eleven-year-old Manu gained her full certification in 2001, meaning was able to work on endangered species. 

Along with kiwi, Manu helps point out brown teal/pāteke.  Pete says, while Manu has now retired, Rua still has about three years of work in him.

High point

Any day in the field when a dog is working well is a good one, says Pete, but the high points are when  Rua finds a new bird, or a nest, or chicks.

Low point

The low points are when other dogs kill kiwi, especially adult kiwi, the breeders. ‘We can’t get on top of it at the moment, and it’s so preventable.’  Stoats and wild cats can be trapped, but dealing with wandering family and farm dogs is a real problem. ‘Last year, two monitored birds were killed by two wandering farm dogs. The farmer just didn’t tell anyone they had gone missing. People get embarrassed and so don’t say anything, and in the meantime their dog’s out there killing kiwi.’

While the number of dog deaths is tracking downwards, Pete says they are still the biggest single cause of kiwi deaths in Northland, more than all the other factors put together. Without dogs, Northland brown kiwi would be a self-sustaining population.

Thoughts for the future

Pete says, with the Whangarei kiwi sanctuary and other Department of Conservation blocks looking good, the future increasingly lies in encouraging and empowering private landowners and Northland communities to save the kiwi. ‘We have good relationships with groups, and there are a lot of people already doing a lot, through the Landcare groups and others. We need to keep supporting that work.

‘We do dogging on private blocks, and encourage people to get involved when they have kiwi on their land. They get a real kick out it.’