Risks and dangers to the kiwi!
Lots of things are dangers to kiwi:

people

 

Kiwi are special to Maori. They believe they are protected by Tane, god of the forest. Maori used to hunt kiwi sometimes. They made special cloaks for their chiefs with its feathers, and the chiefs were the only people allowed to eat kiwi meat.

When Europeans first visited New Zealand (about 1800) they went home and told people about the strange bird that lived here. Some people didn't believe that such a strange bird existed. Many kiwi were killed and stuffed and sent to museums so that people in Europe could see them.

In the 1870's there was a fashion craze in London for kiwi feathers for clothing and many kiwi were killed.

When Europeans settled in New Zealand they increased the number of dangers to kiwi. Clearing of the forest and introducing animals like stoats and dogs did great harm to kiwi.

We are all still a danger to kiwi for many reasons - see below.

dogs

Dogs kill kiwi. Maori hunting parties used the Polynesian kuri (dog), and early European settlers brought their dogs with them. Some dogs ran away and became 'feral' (wild) and killed and ate kiwi to survive.

Dogs are hunting animals and still kill many kiwi. Even farm dogs and pet dogs will kill kiwi when they are in the forest or bush. People must keep good control of their dogs to stop this from happening.

ferrets, stoats and weasels

These animals were brought into the country to control rabbits. It is very hard to catch them because they are very clever and hard to trap.

Ferrets are the largest of these three animals. They kill adult and baby kiwi and eat the eggs.

Stoats eat eggs and kill small chicks. Until they are about six months old a chick can't protect itself from a stoat.

Weasels eat kiwi eggs and kill small chicks. 

traps and poisons

Traps called 'gin traps' are put in the forest to catch possums but they also catch kiwi. Quite a few kiwi have damaged feet and beaks which show that they had a narrow escape from a gin trap.

People also try to catch possums by putting poisoned bait in the forest. It kills kiwi when they eat it too.

cats

Cats also become 'feral' (wild) and kill and eat kiwi chicks. Until chicks are about 9 months old they are not strong enough to stand up to a feral cat.

Only 5 out of every 100 chicks survive. Cats and stoats have killed the other 95! 

pigs Pigs are carnivorous which means they eat meat. They also love to dig and can easily dig a kiwi out of its burrow. There are many wild pigs in our forests and bush, and they kill kiwi.
loss of habitat

As forest is cleared for farmland, the kiwi which used to live in the forest have to live in smaller areas. This means they have more arguments with other kiwi because they have to share territory.

It also means that there are more predator animals (like cats, stoats and ferrets) in a smaller area so it's easier for them to catch the kiwi.

fewer kiwi = less choice of partners for breeding To remain healthy, all kinds of animals need a wide choice of partners. When there are only a few kiwi in an area, there is less choice for them. Sometimes this means that sicknesses are passed from parent birds to chicks.
deer and goats These animals are called 'browsing' animals because they eat bushes and small plants on the ground. Many of these small plants would have become large trees if they had not been eaten. So deer and goats make the forest more open, which makes it easeir for hunting animals to see and catch kiwi.
possums
 Possums steal and eat eggs from nests. This was only discovered two or three years ago when photographs were taken by an automatic camera. Until then we thought possums were a pest because they eat the leaves and flowers of native trees. Now we know that they also harm kiwi.
vehicles Many kiwi are killed on the roads as they try to cross from one part of their territory to another.
man-made hazards Things like cattle-stops and swimming pools kill kiwi too. Sometimes kiwi fall into the pits below cattle-stops and starve. Some drown in swimming pools or ponds on farms because they can't get out.
disease As people came to New Zealand they brought diseases with them, and new diseases develop all the time. Some of these diseases hurt the developing egg or young chicks.

Which of these things do you think are the greatest danger?
Click on the kiwi to find out.
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