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Ruud Kleinpaste: Kiwi birds are in trouble - they need our help

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 22 Jun 2019, 12:15PM
(Photo / File)

Ruud Kleinpaste: Kiwi birds are in trouble - they need our help

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 22 Jun 2019, 12:15PM

Our Iconic birds, Kiwi, have been in trouble for quite a while now.

These guys and gals have been roaming around Aotearoa for millions and millions of years, until our planet got the disease known as Homo sapiens

We changed the landscape, brought in weeds and “the birds from home” (Blackbirds, finches, mynahs you name it). But most importantly: predators.

The usual stuff: rodents, mustelids and possums.

Add to that the incredibly dangerous human companions (dogs!!!) and you have a serious suite of effective killers of our flightless birds.

By the way: DOGS are great at sniffing out the smelly kiwi birds, where-ever they are hiding and even small pooches can “mouthe” a kiwi to death, simply because the bird hasn’t got a sternum (breast-bone) like all flighted birds have. That lack of sternum allows even the softest bite to cause a collapse of the ribcage – internal bleeding – good night nurse!

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