OIAD-305
10 November 2020
Tim Benseman
[FYI request #13957 email]
Tēnā koe Tim
Thank you for your Official Information Act request to the Department of Conservation,
received on 12 October 2020 in which you asked for:
How many Protected native birds have you kil ed with net guns? What are the species. In relation to
the Kea you have kil ed with netguns, how long did it take the birds to die, from time of attack until
death? Were the operators disciplined, retrained, or removed for kil ing these native birds? Were the
weights that kil ed these kea made from lead, and if so, have these deaths been included in docs list
of kea kil ed by lead "poisoning"?
There are no known recorded deaths of native birds being kil ed by net guns.
Kea are the only species for which DOC uses the net projector as a capture method.
Between 1995 and 2020, a total of 187 kea have been captured using a net projector. This
sample includes kea captured by non-DOC operators also, including researchers and
community group members. Of these 187 keas, there are no netgun related deaths and all
kea have survived this method of capture.
In making my decision, I have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of
the Official Information Act.
Nāku noa, nā
Fathima Iftikar
Director Terrestrial Science
Department of Conservation
Te Papa Atawhai
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