Catastrophe for dotterel

Kaikoura: Domestic cats in Kaikoura are laying waste to the eggs of a rare shore bird.

As only 18,000 remain, the banded dotterel is classed as nationally vulnerable.

At South Bay, so far this breeding season 17 of 22 known nests have either been destroyed, abandoned by the parents, or had the eggs eaten.

Ailsa McGilvaryHoward, who leads the banded dotterel study, believes almost all of the destruction is by cats, some of which were caught on motionactivated cameras — RNZ