Mixed messages on the decline of the kea

YET again kea are in the news (ODT, 14.12.17). They have been upgraded from ‘‘vulnerable’’ to ‘‘endangered’’.

It’s the old blame game all over again, with predators such as stoats, rats, possums, and the cats, which I have never seen in an alpine environment (kea habitat) in 50 years. Rats have been around for several hundred years, stoats maybe 150 years, possums for probably as long and kea survived quite nicely. It’s only since the widespread use of 1080 poison they started declining rapidly.

It is claimed 1080 has been having great results in saving kea populations, up to a 27% increase in numbers, yet they are still dying.

The Battle for our Birds campaign has seen hundreds of thousands of hectares of kea habitat targeted by 1080 poison, including a drop of prefeed nontoxic baits to get animals (and birds?) used to the baits.

Humans are blamed for feeding kea junk food, which in turn encourages kea to eat toxic baits.

I would suggest humans have access to every corner of kea habitat via helicopter, boats, or by walking to climb, hunt, tramp, or fish. It also must be remembered that kea have an even better ability to access humans, being able to fly long distances quickly.

Also blamed is leadheaded nails and flashing. At this year’s Kea Conservation Trust meeting, a vet showed an Xray of a kea with lead particles in its stomach.

When I suggested that the Department of Conservation has over the years probably put maybe thousands of kilograms of lead buckshot into kea habitat on their wild animal culls for tahr, chamois, and deer, nobody had an answer to that. Kea are on a very slippery slope. Lewis Hore

Oamaru

The flush of success?

USA Today has proclaimed that Donald Trump is not fit to clean Barack Obama’s toilet.

This is unfair.

Trump would not get within a mile of Obama’s house or any intelligent person’s home for that matter, particularly if there were women there. Ewan McDougall

Broad Bay