Dead Kea at Arthurs Pass, Photo by Andrew Walmsley
Nine threats, actual and potential, to the wild kea population are currently identified. These may be broadly defined as either environmental and ubiquitous or human and localised:
- Introduced mammalian predators
- Lead in kea habitat (e.g. flashings and lead-head nails, tyre weights, lead shot)
- Ground based pest control devices (e.g. poison baits and traps laid for pest control)
- Poorly timed aerial 1080 pest control (non target risk without compensatory benefits)
- Avian diseases
- Climate change (through changes in predator abundance, food availability and habitat)
- Accidents with human objects (e.g. motor vehicles, snow groomers, rubbish bins, electricity sub-stations, life-stylers)
- Destruction/removal of nuisance individuals (permitted or un-permitted)
- Illicit wildlife trade
Projects are being developed to minimise the impact of each of these threats. Click on the link to view our current Threat Mitigation Projects.