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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Eva Corlett in Mamaku

‘Kiwi can’t defend themselves’: New Zealand wrestles with how to save an icon

Jenny Lux with her dog Skye during kiwi avoidance training at Mamaku, near Rotorua, New Zealand
Jenny Lux with her dog Skye during kiwi avoidance training in the bush at Mamaku, near Rotorua. Dogs kill an estimated 400 kiwis annually in New Zealand.
Photograph: Alan Gibson/The Guardian

Tip, a young hunting dog, pads up a goat track through New Zealand’s damp forest undergrowth, alert and excited as her nose hoovers the ground for smells. She stops suddenly to investigate an irresistible scent – the sweet, musty aroma of kiwi.

Tip is allowed a moment to inhale before a low-level electric pulse, issued from a collar, warns her that this bird is out of bounds. She briefly recoils, the electric signal enough to form an immediate negative association with the smell.

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