Dog owners helping to keep kiwi safe
Sometimes dogs need to go into areas where kiwi live, and increasingly kiwi and dogs are overlapping as subdivisions are developed and projects re-introduce kiwi populations where people already live.
Let’s work together to make sure kiwi remain safe in their own backyards. Register your dog for kiwi avoidance training today.
Kiwi Avoidance Training explained
Kiwi avoidance training for dogs is one tool that can help reduce the threat hunting and farming dogs pose to kiwi in the wild. The best way to protect kiwi is to keep dogs out of kiwi habitat altogether. However, kiwi avoidance training can be a useful tool to teach dogs to avoid kiwi if they do work in areas where kiwi live.
Before starting the training, dogs are fitted with an e-collar. They are then walked through a short course which contains several kiwi props and good-quality fresh kiwi scent. This simulates kiwi and their scent in a controlled situation. The trainer will give the dog a small correction through the e-collar if it shows interest in the prop.
Established in 1996, Kiwi Avoidance Training is jointly coordinated by Save the Kiwi and the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai.
Why is kiwi avoidance training necessary?
Kiwi are fragile
Kiwi don’t have breastbones and chest muscles to protect their internal organs like other birds do. This means just a gentle nudge from an inquisitive dog has the potential to crush its very delicate ribcage and internal organs – even if the dog wasn’t being aggressive.
Kiwi are vulnerable
A kiwi doesn’t fly and sleeps during the day, which makes it particularly vulnerable to predators that hunt or roam the bush while it sleeps.
In Northland, kiwi only live for around 13 years compared to the average of 40 years, mostly because of dog attacks.
Just one adult death is devastating
There are an estimated 68,000 kiwi remaining, down from the millions that used to roam New Zealand’s forests. One adult kiwi could lay 200 eggs in its lifetime, and her offspring could produce 800 chicks. Even just one kiwi death can have a devastating impact on kiwi recovery.
Dogs are hunters
It is instinctive and natural behaviour for a dog to investigate unusual odour and movement. Regardless of their size, breed, training, or temperament, all dogs have the potential to regress back to their hunting instincts and kill a kiwi.
Local bylaws may apply
In some parts of New Zealand, some councils have identified areas that dogs cannot access unless they have been kiwi avoidance trained. In other areas, public conservation land is restricted unless you have kiwi avoidance training.
Owners can be fined
The Dog Control Act (1996) enables the destruction of any dog found to have injured or killed any protected wildlife, including kiwi, and the owner to be fined $20,000, and/or three years in jail.
Find out more about kiwi avoidance training in your area
Ready to train your dog to avoid kiwi? Get in touch with a trainer in your region to find out about their next training session.