Native species need our protection

This is by no means all down to dogs.

The clash between pets and protected species is not exactly a new debate for New Zealand, thanks in part to Gareth Morgan’s campaign seeking to protect our native birdlife from domestic cats.

But it’s being played out on a different front in various parts of the country, with the cat’s traditional domestic rival, the dog, featuring prominently. And while some of the native bird species allegedly threatened by our furry feline fiends are of the flying variety, it’s some of our flightless avian residents in the spotlight in this scenario.

In May, a little blue penguin met a violent death as a result of a dog attack on the Wellington waterfront, which prompted a call from city councillor Peter Gilberd for residents to keep their dogs on leashes when walking them.

‘‘Unfortunately, most dogs will naturally see a little blue penguin as prey – and if a dog is off-leash, then it’ll kill a penguin in a couple of seconds,’’ he said.

Further south, particularly along the Otago coastline, the population of yellow-eyed penguins, unique to New Zealand, has been under threat since the 1980s, when annual monitoring of some population sites began.

This is by no means all down to dogs. Pests like stoats and ferrets, and even cats, are well-known predators of chicks, and habitat destruction has also played a role in the dwindling numbers of hoiho, but dogs certainly are a threat to them.

‘‘The most critical time for dog owners to control their dogs is during the moulting period, from February to April each year,’’ the Department of Conservation website says.

On Tuesday, about 40 demonstrators, some dressed as penguins, protested outside the Timaru District Council offices, against a proposal, set to be considered in early 2018, to allow dogs on the town’s famed Caroline Bay early in the morning during the summer months.

Currently, no dogs are permitted on the popular beach, where a colony of little blues has been building for several years now, from the beginning of October until the end of March.

Surely the bottom line, in all these cases, is: ‘‘Once they’re gone, they’re gone.’’

Perhaps, particularly in the case of the hoiho, because it is found only in New Zealand, but also for the little blue and other vulnerable native species, if a population were allowed to disappear from our mainland, it would almost certainly be gone for good, a national tragedy.

Aside from the purely altruistic reasons, losing all, or even most, of a significant native species would also be a serious hit to New Zealand’s tourism offering. We need to protect them. Surely even our dog owners can accept that?