The kiwi kiwi were found in Wharengaere Bay, in the northern bay of the islands.
Photo: RNZ / PETER DE GRAF
Kiwi’s carnage is happening in the islands bay, with nine of the birds strictly protected killed in an isolated bay for the last six weeks.
RNZ understands that the first dead kiwi was found on January 29 in Wharengaere, out of Hansen Road, on the Pureua Peninsula.
Four more were discovered in the following weeks, with the mortality rate rising markedly this month.
Two Kiwi corpses were found on March 6, another on March 7 and one on March 8.
RNZ also understands that complaints were filed to the district council of Far North about dogs in roaming in the area of Wharengaere since mid -2024.
The dead kiwi is believed to be on ice, awaiting post mortem tests to confirm the cause of death.
Most had consistent injuries with dog bites.
In a response to RNZ, the board manager of the board for delivery and operation, Trent Blakeman, confirmed the record of nine kiwi deaths so far.
He said the council has received several roaming dog reports in the general area in the last 12 months.
Doc received reports of Kiwi deaths, but was unable to attribute the murders to dogs in particular, said Blakeman.
“Where dogs were identified as moving away and linked to an owner, violations of the owner have been issued. Animal administration officers are visiting affected areas to verify dogs suspected of deflecting,” he said.
Conservation groups are understood as frustrated with the ongoing deaths and say that dogs linked to specific properties have been identified – including cameras tracking – such as wandering freely in the Wharengae Bay area.
This is not the first time the kiwi have been killed in significant numbers in Wharengaere Bay.
A kiwi killed during a previous dog attack near Russell in 2018.
Photo: Provided
An earlier wave in mid -2019 led to a rare process in which a 50 -year -old man declared himself guilty of having a dog that caused the death of six kiwi.
Some of the dead birds were found on the lawn outside his house.
According to court documents, the dog owner was convicted and ordered to pay $ 300 in reparations. The dog, who was allowed to wander freely, was destroyed.
Elsewhere in Bay of the Islands, at least six kiwi were killed in the ōpua forest, near Pahia in 2023.
Post-mortem exams found that the ōPua Kiwi had been attacked by dogs, but the owners were never identified.
Another wave occurred on Wharau Road, east of Kerikeri, in 2015, when at least eight kiwi were killed.
Following a long investigation by Doc and the district council of the far north, three dogs were destroyed and two owners were fined for not keeping their dogs under control.
In 2021, a Russell man was fined a $ 4500 record for having a dog that caused the death of two kiwi.
He had several previous dog -related convictions in roaming.
Based on Kiwi’s call counts, it is believed that the Pureua Peninsula, in the northern islands bay, has the largest density of brown kiwi on the northern island of the country.
The peninsula also houses a large operation of control of pests directed to rats, stones and wild cats.
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