Police and the Department of Conservation have been notified after a kea was killed at a Canterbury skifield.
Porter Heights Ski Area manager Uli Dinsenbacher said a kea died after being hit by a rock that was thrown by a child at the skifield with a school group last Friday afternoon.
Dinsenbacher was unsure whether the children were throwing stones at each other and the kea got caught in the crossfire or if the bird was targeted.
It was a busy day and there were about 200 children in the car park at the time, he said.
If skifield staff had seen the children throwing rocks at the kea, they would have intervened.
''It was just kids being kids,'' he said.
''I don't know if the child knew what he was doing.''
DOC field centre supervisor Chris Stewart said it was the first incident of this kind he had heard about.
There were signs at skifields that kea were endangered.
It would not necessarily take a strong throw for a rock to kill a kea.
''They are so cheeky they will come quite close to people,'' Stewart said.
Police and DOC would look into the circumstances of the kea's death and ''work with'' the child and the school, he said.
Under the Wildlife Act, killing kea is a criminal offence, liable to a fine of up to $100,000 or six months in prison.
There were only an estimated 5000 kea left in New Zealand.
It was unlikely any action would be taken against the child or school.
Stewart said DOC hoped to carry out a study on the dead bird. They could test the corpse for lead poisoning, which they had concerns about in the kea population.
Last year, five kea were found shot dead at Klondyke Corner, but the culprits were never found.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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@Farmer 40,000,000 Sheep in NZ. 5000 Kea in NZ.
Sounds like a tui add "accidental? Yeah right"
@ Farmer 31
at least you kill them before eating their kidneys eh
nature is brutal - fair game if the kea eats your introduced, polluting, cash crop
its just such a shame that one of our endangered parrots gets kiled in such a senseless way - i really hope it was an accident - but highly doubt it
I think the school should be accountable for the student actions in their care, just like a parent would be if the child was under their care. Who was supervising the "stone throwing children" is this acceptable behaviour for school children anywhere?? stone throwing for goodness sake......
Everyone needs to relax.. It's very unfortunate and I'm sure the child didnt mean to kill the Kea; it was much more likely an aiming competition with results that were not intended. Some of your reactions seem like you would want the child fined or imprisoned... Get real. No doubt the CHILD knows how bad it is now. Grow up and stop trying to send the kid to the dock for a stupid one of incident.
Wow, some people are really getting their knickers in a twist. Don't get me wrong, a dead Kea is not something to be taken lightly. However those calling for action against the child, or the school, really? What kind of action may I ask? Because I have no doubt that the child will be disciplined regarding throwing rocks, and the school will use this sad incident as another way of teaching New Zealand kids about our native wildlife and the fragile ecosystem which birds like the Kea are apart of. But action? as in pointing fingers, witch hunt action? What help will that do? Please note, that I am a teacher and that I also volunteer my time to Forest & Bird. (a man on both sides if you will)
Ignoring the actual disgraceful act itself and what the child may go on to do as an adult, there are two aspects of this that sadden me. 1) That the old chestnut "it's just kids just being kids" seems to used as an excuse for terrible behaviors these days and somehow seems to excuse unethical behavior, and 2) the media are reporting already that there's unlikely to be any action taken against the child or school. This infers that someone in authority has already alluded to the fact that such a crime (and this is a crime) is clearly not important enough for action to be taken. Issues like this should be worrying for all of us.
just kids being kids what an insult to children who know better.
Very sad to hear that such a young person on a school trip has been responsible for killing this kea. As so many of the comments have pointed out, the excuse 'kids being kids'is no defense for cruelty to animals and if the intent was to hurt or injure the bird, then we hope that there is due follow up by the authorities to identify why this boy did what he did. There are loads of children here and overseas who are helping to protect kea and I know they will be particularly devastated to hear about this incident.
Keas are not always "cute" - keas kill sheep by eating the kidneys out of live sheep.
How incredibly sad. I frequently tell kids off for chasing and trying to kick ducks/pidgeons and other birds whilst their feckless parents sit and watch. It is a proven fact that kids who are cruel to animals tend to grow up to become criminals, bullies and thugs.
Why are we tolerating this behaviour from our young. Parents control your kids, public hold parents to account on these wanton acts of animal cruelty.
If enough of us take a stand perhaps that sort of behaviour will stop
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