What’s killing Napier’s ducks? About 100 have died in days
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Hawke’s Bay Fish and Game has found about 100 dead ducks in a waterway that runs across Napier, and nobody knows what’s killing them.
It began with the death of two birds on Sunday, March 9, that were found in the grassy areas along the stream that spans the suburbs of Te Awa, Marewa, Onekawa and continues out to the Ahuriri Estuary.
“The deceased ducks were found in Napier along the stream between Kennedy Rd and Kmart,” read a March 10 social media post from Hawke’s Bay Fish & Game, with a warning for people not to touch the birds.
Kerry Meehan from Fish & Game HB said the two dead ducks were sent off “straight away” to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for testing.
On Tuesday, Meehan told Stuff they had half a dozen more dead ducks reported that morning.
“We don’t know what’s doing it. It’s all a bit strange because there’s nothing else being affected,” she said. “It’s a mystery what’s behind the death of the birds.”
Meehan said the eels that live in the creek don’t seem to be sick or dying.
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Meehan said the deceased ducks were based around the creek that reaches the Old Ford Rd in the industrial area of Onekawa.
“It’s that one waterway,” she said. “It seems like a few of the sick ducks have branched out, but a lot of focus does seem to be on that one stream.”
Napier woman Cherry Hart lives near the creek in Marewa and has walked her dogs in the area for 20 years.
She and her friends have noticed the dwindling number of ducks that have always been a popular attraction for generations of families.
“The duck numbers are not nearly as many as it used to be. I haven’t seen any duck deaths, but my husband has.”
Hart said she stopped her dog Jesse from going into the water only last week when the deaths were reported by Fish & Game on Facebook.
“It is pretty dirty,” she said of the drain.
Wendy McDonald from Biosecurity New Zealand, which is part of MPI, said they were notified of the death of ducks in the area.
“As is normal in these circumstances, we arranged for samples from the site to be sent to our Animal Health Laboratory at Wallaceville, Upper Hutt.”
Could it be bird flu?
Biosecurity New Zealand’s main role in this event is to determine whether an exotic (introduced) disease was involved in the death of the birds, McDonald said.
They assess all reports of multiple bird fatalities and are on the lookout for High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (also known as bird flu), a highly contagious viral disease of birds that is found across the globe.
New Zealand has been preparing in case the H5N1 strain arrives here.
“Our testing to date has ruled out HPAI (bird flu) as the cause for the deaths of these ducks, but we are carrying out some further tests to see if we can determine a cause,“ McDonald said.
Corina Jordan is the CEO of New Zealand Fish and Game Council and works with their team in Hawke’s Bay where, by Wednesday, they had recovered around about 100 dead birds - they were mallard and shoveler ducks.
“We’re not seeing mass mortality across the region, but we’re treating everything like it potentially could be High Path(ology) Avian Influenza.”
“Obviously, that isn’t in the country at the moment, but we’re just being precautionary because, it’s a high alert time of the year in relation to potential of HPAI to come to New Zealand from overseas.”
Is it the creek?
Jordan said the death and sickness is confined and localised and both Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Napier City Council are looking at the health of the environment.
“One of the things that they were potentially concerned about was that it could have been an industrial spill or something like that. So they’re looking at the state of the environment to see if there’s any drivers there.”
A spokesperson for the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council said they were aware of the issue and their pollution response team was supporting the lead agencies, Fish & Game and MPI, but they did not know what was killing the birds.
Stuff asked Napier City Council what actions had been taken to investigate the state of the creek that often looks dirty and can smell ripe in summer?
A council spokesperson said they do regular testing on the water and weed extraction programmes.
The regional council said the drain is typically cleaned up on a 10-15 year rotation, “but there are many variables that contribute to that”.
They also said they have a regular maintenance and water testing programme in place.
Be careful of sick and dying birds
People should be cautious if they see dead or dying birds, MPI said. If three or more dead birds are found people should ring MPI’s 0800 809966 hotline number.
They should also contact Fish & Game if they saw dead or sick birds like mallards, pukeko and Paradise shellduck and swans.
It’s best to leave these birds in place so try not to retrieve them and make sure your dogs are kept away from them, she said.
“If they’re recovering, we need to give them plenty of space, and if they’re ill, then it’s best not to let our canine partners interact with them.”
Her Fish & Game college Meehan added: “All we can keep doing is just collecting and keep people vigilant, especially with reminding them not to touch the ducks.”
An earlier version of this story said the ducks were found around the creek the council calls Plantation Drain. They were instead found Georges Drive Drain, which joins Plantation Drain before entering the Ahuriri Estuary. (Amended at 6.05pm on March 20, 2025)