Kiwi avoidance training for dogs could save kiwi

Kiwi living in or near the Brynderwyns need all the protection they can get if they are to survive and thrive. Dogs are one of the greatest threats to adult kiwi and all dog owners living close to kiwi inhabited land should get their dog regularly avoidance trained and keep them under control.

Avoidance training, sponsored by the Friends of the Brynderwyns Society, will take place on March 21 near Mangawhai and is available to domestic, farm and pig hunting dogs. Many local owners, alert to the danger their dog might pose, have taken advantage of past training sessions and are already registering for a refresher.

At Marunui Conservation, and all around the Brynderwyns, hundreds of hours are being donated by volunteers wanting to keep kiwi safe. Groups such as Waipu Kiwis are tramping the hills servicing predator traps to protect those birds which have ventured far beyond Marunui where they were first released. Such community effort has been rewarded by successful breeding and increased kiwi calls heard.

It only takes a few seconds for a dog to undo all this hard work. Last week a dead kiwi was found in Hancocks forest, not far from the top of Cullen Road. It had been monitored only two weeks previously, its transmitter working perfectly. Tragically this was Karamu, one of the kiwi relocated last June from Motuora Island and released at Marunui. He flourished in his new habitat and gradually moved northwards. Hancocks fund intensive trapping there for stoats, ferrets, weasels and feral cats and of these only the ferret kills adult kiwi. It’s three years since one was caught there so the most likely cause of death is a wandering or uncontrolled dog.

The penalty for killing a kiwi is severe. The Department of Conservation (DOC) recently reported a successful prosecution of a Northland resident whose roaming dog killed two kiwi. Canine DNA on the birds matched the dog’s saliva sample. The owner was fined $4500 and his husky-labrador cross was ordered to be destroyed. DOC advised that sixteen kiwi in the Bay of Islands alone have been killed by dogs since January 2020.

Situations like this can be prevented by keeping dogs under control, tied up or enclosed by fencing, or on a lead and closely supervised. Avoidance training will help. Lionel Roberts, a volunteer with Waipu Kiwis, has his two German short-haired pointers avoidance trained every year.

“It’s part of being a responsible owner and I encourage others to do the training,” he says. “It only takes ten minutes and could protect a kiwi like Karamu on your property or nearby.”

n Booking not later than March 16 for training on March 21 is essential. Email john.hawley@xtra.co.nz, or phone 027 262 7901, (09) 376 4069.

Lionel Roberts has his two pointers, Livvy and Pippa, do kiwi avoidance refreshers every year. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Karamu the kiwi, relocated to the Brynderwyns last year, was likely killed in a dog attack. PHOTO/SUPPLIED