Kea getting killed on road because man refuses to stop feeding them
Monday, 4 July 2022
A young kea called Dillon has become the latest victim of an ongoing stalemate between conservationists and a resident in the heart of a South Island national park.
Dillon died on Sunday night, one of three juvenile kea – along with Chickpea and Kuschla – found dead in Arthur’s Pass village from suspected vehicle strike since June.
In the past two years, 12 of the nationally endangered parrots have been killed by cars in the area, eight in the village itself.
But there is an insidious factor environmentalists and Department of Conservation (DOC) staff fear is contributing to birds dying on the road – a local man who insists on feeding them.
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**
The man regularly feeds the birds on his property, putting carrots and apples out. One young bird killed last month was even found smothered with margarine, while Dillon was found just a stone’s throw from his property.
But the man feeding the birds doesn’t believe it is playing a part in their demise, and rejects claims doing so can harm them.
DOC’s North Canterbury acting operations manager Leeann Ellis said staff had spoken to him repeatedly since 2016 to try to stop him feeding kea at his home, and that there were concerns in the community about his behaviour.
“Feeding kea teaches them to scrounge and encourages them to seek out human foods at campsites, rubbish sites, car parks and other areas frequented by people.
“When kea gather in car parks or near roads, they are at greater risk of being hit by cars.”
Recent DOC-led research showed kea populations closer to “scrounging sites” were also at higher risk of interacting with 1080 baits during pest control operations.
Some human foods – like chocolate – also contains ingredients toxic to kea, and had caused deaths in the past, she said.
However, Ellis said feeding protected native species did not fall under the Wildlife Act.
“Currently, there is no effective legal avenue to prosecute people who feed protected native wildlife.
“We are considering further action to encourage the resident to stop feeding kea, including providing additional scientific evidence about the impact on kea health and survival from being fed human food and again, urging them to stop.”
But the man – who Stuff has chosen not to name – claimed feeding them was not playing a part in their deaths.
Dillon had been eating a dead possum on the road, and the man claimed the two other dead kea were part of a mob which spent time on a temporary shed under a streetlight at night.
When they went to fly, the birds “swooped” down onto the road, he said, into the path of traffic.
He blamed people speeding through the village for killing the kea.
“I regularly see people going 80 to 100 kilometres [per hour].
“A serious issue here is the lack of policing and the total disregard for the speed limit – the kea can’t get out of the way.”
The man rejected suggestions that feeding kea made them more likely to interact with 1080, and said he was actually helping DOC.
“They would never get within 50 miles of them if it wasn’t for my lawn. I’m the person who points out to them all the ones that are injured or sick, it’s to their benefit too.”
He originally started feeding kea to stop them damaging his roof.
“I don’t really want to feed them, to be honest, but they just arrive now. You can’t just turn off the tap and say ‘go away’.”
The man also didn’t like how conservation workers had approached him.
“There’s quite a large backlash of people [in the village] who don’t like being told what to do all the time.”
The Arthur’s Pass Wildlife Trust (APWT), which helps protect kea, also engaged with the man in 2016, “as soon as he started feeding them”, chairperson Peter Neale said.
“There’s been so many broken promises.”
The man promised before the first Covid-19 lockdown to keep halving the amount he fed the birds and eventually stop, Neale said.
He also promised to stop feeding them bread and margarine, but neither promise was kept.
“It’s really frustrating – we’re out there doing the hard yards … then there’s just this one person undoing a lot of that good work.”
Kea Conservation Trust (KCT) chairperson Tamsin Orr-Walker said the Wildlife Act was overdue for revision.
“It just doesn’t really define what causes harm. Some things that may seem to be acceptable behaviour are actually really detrimental to kea.”
Feeding kea – even inadvertently – was a factor in every ongoing conflict between kea and humans that KCT knew of.
In some instances they caused major property damage, and had even terrorised a caravan park, she said, “pulling out wires and having a crack at solar panels”.
KCT first tried to help the man in 2016 with kea damaging his house.
“It was very clear kea were hanging around this property because of food. The situation is ongoing, because the feeding’s never stopped.
“All he has to do is stop feeding them … how many more kea need to die?”
As a community living inside kea habitat, locals had a responsibility not to do anything to harm them – even if it wasn’t illegal, Orr-Walker said.
KCT’s Arthur’s Pass community engagement co-ordinator Renée Habluetzel has been successful in getting the cheeky parrots to leave her home alone.
“When we came to live here, kea were everywhere around our house.”
“We never, ever fed them, and within three weeks they were gone.”
She hadn’t had any issues in the 12 years since, and advised people to keep their property “boring”, and make sure there was nothing the birds could easily get into.
“You have to treat your backyard like you’ve got a 4-year-old kid …They live here, and you have to take that into account.”
DOC, KCT, and APWT are organising a community meeting this month on how to best protect kea in the village – covering issues like speeding, feeding, and removing toxic lead from buildings.