Nine kiwi killed at Wharengaere Bay in the Bay of Islands

The dead kiwi were found at Wharengaere Bay in the northern Bay of Islands. Photo / RNZ / Peter de Graaf

• Nine kiwi have been killed at Wharengaere Bay in the past six weeks, with dog bites suspected.
• Complaints about roaming dogs in the area have been lodged with Far North District Council.
• Conservation groups are frustrated, urging action as similar incidents have occurred in previous years.

By Peter de Graaf of RNZ

Kiwi carnage is taking place in the Bay of Islands, with nine of the protected birds killed at one isolated bay during the past six weeks.

RNZ understands the first dead kiwi was found on January 29 at Wharengaere Bay, off Hansen Rd on the Purerua Peninsula.

Four more were discovered in the following weeks, with the death rate rising sharply this month.

Two kiwi corpses were found on March 6, another on March 7, and one more on March 8.

RNZ also understands complaints have been lodged with Far North District Council about roaming dogs in the Wharengaere Bay area since mid-2023.

The dead kiwi are believed to be on ice, awaiting post-mortem examinations to confirm the cause of death.

Most had injuries consistent with dog bites.

In a response to RNZ, council acting group manager for delivery and operation, Trent Blakeman, confirmed the tally of nine reported kiwi deaths so far.

He said the council had received various reports of roaming dogs in the wider area over the past 12 months.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) had received reports of kiwi deaths but had not been able to attribute the killings to particular dogs, Blakeman said.

“Where dogs have been identified as straying and linked to an owner, infringements have been issued to the owner. Animal management officers are visiting affected areas to check on dogs suspected of straying,” he said.

Conservation groups are understood to be frustrated by the ongoing deaths, and say dogs linked to specific properties have been identified – including on tracking cameras – as roaming freely in the Wharengaere Bay area.

It is not the first time kiwi have been killed in significant numbers at Wharengaere Bay.

A previous spate, in mid-2019, led to a rare prosecution in which a 50-year-old pleaded guilty to owning a dog that caused the deaths of six kiwi.

Some of the dead birds had been found on the lawn outside her home.

According to court documents, the dog owner was convicted and ordered to pay $300 in reparations. The dog, which had been allowed to roam freely, was destroyed.

Elsewhere in the Bay of Islands, at least six kiwi were killed in Ōpua Forest, near Paihia, in 2023.

Post-mortem examinations found the Ōpua kiwi had been mauled by dogs, but the owners were never identified.

Another spate occurred at Wharau Rd, east of Kerikeri, in 2015, when at least eight kiwi were killed.

After a lengthy investigation by DoC and Far North District Council, three dogs were destroyed and two owners were fined for failing to keep their dogs under control.

In 2021, a Russell man was fined a record $4500 for owning a dog that caused the deaths of two kiwi.

He had a number of previous convictions relating to roaming dogs.

Based on kiwi call counts, Purerua Peninsula, in the northern Bay of Islands, is believed to have the highest density of North Island brown kiwi in the country.

The peninsula is also home to a major pest control operation targeting rats, stoats and feral cats.

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