Another Dog killed Kiwi

[Weka1]

For Your Information. This is an issue where council policy is out of step with conservation initiatives and Predator Free 2050. Such disconnects could happen in your area too.

There has been another dog killed kiwi at the Bay of Islands. See https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12081641
The Bay of Islands is a stronghold of Brown Kiwi.
Uniquely kiwi are present around houses within the towns of Kerikeri and Russell.

Since the paper by Taborsky (Notornis 1988) dogs have been recognised as the major killers of adult kiwi in Northland. One dog can eliminate a local kiwi population. http://behav.zoology.unibe.ch/sysuif/up ... _Kiwis.pdf

There are many Landcare group initiatives within the Far North District Council rohe where predator control is being carried out. Within some of these areas kiwi are showing significant increases in numbers. Kiwi can breed twice and produce four chicks a year in Northland. Productivity is not a problem. Mortality is. Dogs have the potential to wipe out any increase in kiwi numbers achieved, by much hard effort and substantial costs, through predator control.

After pressure from some dog advocates the Far North District Council has rolled back proposed more comprehensive dog control by-laws.

This is not an anti-dog rant. There are many responsible dog owners who support the initiatives to increase kiwi numbers. But wandering dogs are a problem and there must be effective legal means to control them.

See FNDC Dog policy and Dog Control Bylaw Review http://www.fndc.govt.nz/communication/c ... bylaw-2016

[Neil Fitzgerald]

There is work being done to identify individual dogs from DNA on kiwi carcasses. Perhaps successful prosecution of offending dog owners will help. Unfortunately our history of dishing out wet bus tickets for wildlife offences suggests otherwise.