HUBRIS OF A HEGEMON
‘We have offended a nation’: Miami zoo’s treatment of kiwi bird enrages New Zealand
Zoo apologises after videos of a bird being handled and petted by guests under bright lights prompted uproar in New Zealand
Tess McClure in Auckland
The treatment of a kiwi at a Miami zoo has enraged thousands of New Zealanders, who launched a furious campaign to bring their national bird home and prompted the zoo to apologise.
Videos of Pāora – a kiwi bird housed by Zoo Miami – being handled and petted by guests under bright lights emerged on Tuesday, to almost immediate uproar in New Zealand.
Reclusive and nocturnal, kiwis are beloved in New Zealand to the point that the flightless, rotund, nocturnal ground-dweller has become the country’s national icon.
The footage went viral within hours – sparking a 9,000-person petition, a flood of complaints to the zoo, a government intervention from the Department of Conservation and comments from the prime minister.
On Wednesday, zoo spokesperson Ron Magill said the zoo had “made a huge mistake here”. After receiving a flood of complaints, “I immediately went to the zoo director, and I said, we have offended a nation,” he said in an interview on national radio.
Later that day, prime minister Chris Hipkins weighed in on the incident, saying it “shows a lot of Kiwis take pride in our national bird when they’re overseas”.
“The New Zealanders who witnessed what was happening there caught it pretty quickly,” he said. The prime minister added that the zoo had “made public statements of regret on what’s happened, and I acknowledge that and thank them for taking it seriously”.
Americans may have been surprised by the immediacy and volume of the fury on behalf of the kiwi – but New Zealand is unusually dedicated to the welfare of its endemic birds.
The country’s early breakaway from other land masses means that it has no native land mammals, and is instead populated instead by a vast array of birds. Many are now endangered, and there are ongoing national campaigns to wipe out predators and save them. The kiwi holds a special place in the hearts of New Zealanders. It is considered a taonga (cultural treasure) by Māori.
Pāora, the Miami bird, was hatched in the US as part of a breeding program.
The zoo had begun charging guests US$25 for a “kiwi encounter” to meet the bird. In a video posted to the zoo’s social media, a handler cuddles Paora, scratching his head and showing him off to a group of visitors, who feed him worms. “He loves being pet, he’s like a little dog and he loves his head being pet,” they say.
One viewer immediately launched a petition to “Help Save This Mistreated Kiwi,” arguing that he was “subjected to bright fluorescent lighting 4 days a week, being handled by dozens of strangers, petted on his sensitive whiskers, laughed at, and shown off like a toy”.
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Within less than a day, more than 9,000 people had signed. Others launched an email campaign to the zoo, with some calling for prime minister Chris Hipkins to speak directly to the US ambassador and intervene. New Zealand’s department of conservation stepped in on Tuesday, saying a statement “We would like to thank everyone who has raised concerns about Paora, the kiwi at Miami zoo”, and that the department would be “discussing the situation with the American Association of Zoos & Aquariums”.
Less than 24 hours later, Paora was returned to darkness. While the bird would not be repatriated to New Zealand, the “kiwi encounter” would be ended immediately, and Paora no longer exposed to fluorescent lights, the zoo said. “We listened to everyone who wrote to us – and there were a lot,” Magill said.
In a lengthy apology to one complainant, the zoo said they were “deeply sorry” and that the kiwi encounter “was, in hindsight, not well conceived”.
“It is especially painful to all of us to think that anything that has occurred here at Zoo Miami would be offensive to any of the wonderful people of New Zealand.”
Hannah Getahun
May 23, 2023
Zoo Miami issued an apology for its treatment of a kiwi that was part of a wildlife encounter experience.
After videos online surfaced of the experience, people began a petition to rescue the bird.
The kiwi is no longer being used for wildlife encounters, the zoo confirmed.
A campaign led by outraged social media users and New Zealand's Department of Conservation to raise awareness about the treatment of a kiwi in captivity resulted in a Miami zoo issuing an apology for offending a nation.
Pāora, a kiwi hatched at Zoo Miami, had been part of a wildlife encounter program with the zoo, where guests would get the chance to pet New Zealand's flightless bird for just over $20.
However, videos of the experience online prompted concerns from people afraid that the animal was being mistreated by zoo staff by being exposed to bright lighting and excessive exposure.
Following the outrage, Zoo Miami communications director Ron Magill told Radio New Zealand that the kiwi encounter was a "huge mistake" and that the zoo had "offended a nation." Magill also confirmed that the bird is no longer being handled by guests, and is now living in a dark enclosure.
"I am embarrassed that we're in this position. This was not well conceived when they came up with this plan. The thought was 'well, since the bird is eating and seems very healthy and doing well, that this is something that maybe we could do'," Magill told RNZ. "We were wrong."
DOC to raise concerns with Miami Zoo over treatment of kiwi
There is concern about the treatment of a kiwi at a Miami Zoo – with the nocturnal animal being shown off under bright lights and handled by guests.
Videos seen by Stuff show the native New Zealand bird, referred to by a keeper as “Paora”, being displayed to guests under bright lights.
Paora became the first kiwi to hatch in Miami in 2019, and was named in honour of iwi leader, environmental advocate and hands-on conservationist Paora "Baldy" Haitana. He is the only kiwi at Miami Zoo.
Videos on social media show guests handling the kiwi – giving it head scratches as it sits on a table.
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Department of Conservation (DOC) Director of Terrestrial Biodiversity Hilary Aikman said they plan on raising their concerns with the US zoo, via the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), to try and improve the housing and handling situation.
“Kiwi are a taonga species and are treasured by all New Zealanders,” Aikman said.
“The protection and welfare of kiwi is a high priority.”
In New Zealand there are specific standards to handle and care for kiwi, Aikman said.
The population of about 60 kiwis offshore is managed separately from the New Zealand zoo and wildlife park population, she said.
The kiwi in America are managed via their national body, the AZA, Aikman said.
Simon Hall, who owns a wilderness block where more than 100 of kiwi have been successfully reintroduced into the wilderness, said the handling of kiwis by zoo guests “doesn’t seem quite right”.
“That sort of thing is not really encouraged here.”
The behaviour wouldn’t be allowed in Aotearoa.
Ready for a one-of-a-kind encounter? Meet the Kiwi, a rare flightless bird from New Zealand, exclusively at #ZooMiami! #Kiwi #LiveZooMiami 🥝🐦 pic.twitter.com/y5Ix5xDZXd
— Zoo Miami (@zoomiami) March 20, 2023
Hall said to handle a kiwi in New Zealand, you need accreditation and – even with the supervision of an accredited person – the public are not allowed to physically interact with the birds.
From an advocacy perspective, there might be some argument for letting guests interact with kiwi, he said, but it’s not common.
In the Department of Conservation’s Kiwi Best Practice Manual, it is warned that special care must be exercised when holding and interacting with the birds.
Another video shows the kiwi running through a brightly lit enclosure to hide in the shade of a semi-closed off box.
The rest of the box is then closed by a keeper, who opens it again after a couple seconds for the guests to see that the kiwi has run inside.
Jeseka Christieson, who has started a petition to save the kiwi, said it was mind-blowing that they could treat an animal like this.
“I just feel bad for the little guy.”
New Zealand has such irreplaceable, unique wildlife, she said, and it’s so disheartening to see Paora treated this way.
Christieson wanted to see the zoo either step up its treatment of the kiwi, or send it home to NZ.
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