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Threats to kiwi

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Kiwi face threats from predators, loss of habitat and people.

Kiwi predators

  • stoats
  • cats
  • dogs
  • ferrets
  • possums
  • pigs

Other animal pests, such as hedgehogs, rodents and weasels, compete for the same food as kiwi. They are also prey for the same animals that attack kiwi, helping to keep the number of predators high.

The main predators of kiwi are stoats (centre) and cats, which prey on young kiwi during their first three months of life. Image: LEARNZ.

Loss of habitat

Land clearance affects kiwi in three main ways:

  1. They can be killed when land is cleared.
  2. It creates smaller areas for kiwi and their predators.
  3. It means more competition for space, more boundary wars, less breeding, and more birds pushed out into farmland where they can be killed by dogs.

Today, many roads cross through kiwi territory. Image: LEARNZ.

People

If you live near kiwi, and you own a dog or cat, your pet could be affecting your local kiwi population.

Dogs are a big threat to adult kiwi. Image: LEARNZ.

Some of the traps and poisons we use to kill possums can also harm kiwi. Traps and bait should always be placed at least 70 centimetres off the ground.

Another risk to kiwi comes if hunters leave possum remains lying where they were skinned. These attract predators, such as cats and stoats, and help their numbers grow.

Sometimes kiwi are killed on roads. Towns and cities are spreading even further into areas where kiwi live and today many roads cross through kiwi territory.

Kiwi have drowned in people’s swimming pools and in effluent ponds on farms. Others have died of starvation after falling into cattle stops, pits or holes.

Cats may seem to sleep all day, but at night they can hunt and roam up to 20 kilometres from home. Keep your cat inside at night if you live close to kiwi.

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