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File photo. Photo: 123rf The female North Island brown kiwi was found with bite marks along its body in the Pouiatoa Conservation Area in North Taranaki. Dog owners have to put their animals through kiwi aversion training and get a permit before entering conservation land. Charges can also be filed against owners if there is evidence dogs have killed kiwi, with a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine or up to three years in jail, and an order for the dogs to be destroyed. Off-duty Department of Conservation (DOC) Biodiversity Ranger Joe Carson found a pile of kiwi feathers while following dog and boot prints along a track. The bird had been thrown down a bank. ....
“It’s just so disappointing to see a large egg-carrying female taken out of the population,” Carson said “In the wild, kiwi only have a 5 per cent chance of survival to adulthood. This big, beautiful female bird had beaten the odds and survived only to be taken out by a dog. It’s an entirely avoidable death.” Dog owners are required to put their dogs through kiwi aversion training and get a permit before entering conservation land. “If dog owners take their dogs through kiwi aversion training and keep their dogs under control the chances of this happening would be greatly reduced,” Carson said. ....