MIAMI — Zoo Miami has stopped offering its “Kiwi Encounter,” where guests could pet, feed and photograph the rare, flightless bird after viral video on social media sparked outrage over the treatment and handling of the bird named Paora.
Kiwi, an icon of New Zealand and highly regarded in Maori culture, are endemic, meaning they are only found in one place in the world. Their closest relatives are the extinct elephant birds that were native to Madagascar, according to a fact page authored by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. About 70,000 kiwi are left in the world and 2% of the wild population is lost each year — about 20 every day, the site says.
At Zoo Miami, guests were allowed to encounter Paora once a day, four times a week for about 15 minutes, Ron Magill, a spokesperson for the zoo, said in an email. Paora hatched in May 2019, becoming the first kiwi to ever hatch in Florida.
“The Kiwi Encounter entailed being able to feed the kiwi, touch/gently pet it, and photograph it as it was placed on a platform in front of guests who paid an extra $25 each for the encounter,” Magill said. “At least one and often two zookeepers would be present to provide facts about the individual bird and the species as a whole and to answer any questions.”
Radio New Zealand shared video posted online that shows the bird sitting on top of a table as it is fed a worm and pet on its head in a brightly lit room.
“He loves to be in the dark and go back to sleep,” a zookeeper is heard saying in the video.
The independent radio station reported that the bird is named after Maori leader and environmentalist Paora Haitana, who went to the zoo to visit the bird in 2019.
“It goes against our cultural understanding of the bird … It goes against everything the bird was given to them for. It was given to them to be put in an enclosure that was in semi-darkness … It’s a nocturnal bird and under bright lights, the bird eventually will be blind, I believe,” Haitana told Radio New Zealand.
An online petition called “Help Save This Mistreated Kiwi!” with more than 13,000 signatures Wednesday said the encounter was problematic because Paora “is subjected to bright fluorescent lighting 4 days a week, being handled by dozens of strangers, petted on his sensitive whiskers, laughed at, and shown off like a toy.”
“Kiwi are nocturnal animals, who should be kept in suitable dark enclosures, and minimally handled. He is unable to exercise natural behavior, which is one of the necessary freedoms outlined in the Animal Welfare Act,” the petition said. “The best practice manual for kiwi states that they shouldn’t be handled often or taken out of their burrow to be held by the public. He is kept awake during the day, with only a small box in a brightly lit enclosure to mimic his natural underground habitat.”
The birds are particularly vulnerable when being handled because they have no sternum, weak pectoral muscles and ribcage and are injured easily, according to the Department of Conservation’s Kiwi Best Practice Manual.
People must be trained by an accredited trainer before handling them, the manual says, and “members of the public are not to touch the head or bill of the bird.”
The encounters had been offered since October 2022, Magill said. The zoo said in its apology Tuesday that it immediately discontinued them.
“Though Paora has thrived at Zoo Miami while receiving the best care available, the development of the Kiwi Encounter was, in hindsight, not well conceived with regard to the national symbolism of this iconic animal and what it represents to the people of New Zealand, especially the Maori,” the zoo’s statement said. “Having had the honor of hosting the Honorable New Zealand Ambassador to the United States and several representatives of the Maori people during a special naming ceremony here at Zoo Miami, it is especially painful to all of us to think that anything that has occurred with Paora here at Zoo Miami would be offensive to any of the wonderful people of New Zealand. Again, we are deeply sorry.”
In a May 2019 Facebook post, the zoo shared pictures of former U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand Mark Gilbert and Honorary Consul to New Zealand Nancy Gilbert meeting Paora. Nancy Gilbert gave an “official blessing of the bird in the native Maori language,” the post said.
Paora is typically kept out of public view in a quiet environment and shelter that offers him darkness during the day “so that he can, at his discretion, come out and explore his habitat in the quiet of the evening,” the statement said.
The Department of Conservation thanked people in a tweet Monday who voiced their concerns about the encounters. The department responded to one tweet that five kiwi were given to the U.S. years ago to increase genetic diversity in the captive zoo populations.
“While offshore kiwi are managed separately, we’ll be discussing the situation with the American Association of Zoos & Aquariums to address some of the housing and handling concerns raised,” the department said.
A spokesperson for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums said in an email the organization is in contact with “all parties concerned about Paora” and the the zoo “has taken the right steps to assure Paora’s well-being into the future.”
Magill said a new habitat that will suit the animal’s nocturnal behavior is in the early stages of design.
“It will be developed in such a way that we can teach our guests about the amazing kiwi without any direct contact from the public,” the zoo’s statement said.
