We are named after these guys, and they're pretty special, so really: looking after kiwis is ... looking after ourselves! Keeping your dog on a lead helps Kiwis look after kiwis!
Make a bandana for your dog that helps spread the word: dogs on leads help our native birds safely breed and feed!
Read the instructions
See also
Discover more ways to protect our native species with Kiwi Conservation Club
What to do
Your mission is:
Make a bandana that makes your dog look swag and spreads the message to others. Keeping your dog on a lead can make a big difference in keeping our manu (bird) mates like penguins and kiwi, safe.
Instructions
1. Penguin capital of the world!
Did you know that NZ is home to 1/3 of the world’s 18 penguin species? We are the penguin capital of the world! And if you're near the sea, chances are that there's penguins living near you, like these kororā or little blue penguins.
Kororā are the world's smallest penguins and are awesome swimmers: like underwater torpedoes!
2. Unhappy feet :-(
They are sweet in the sea, but on land our penguins are highly vulnerable to being hunted by prowling predators. These include stoats, and cats and dogs. Luckily we can make a big difference by looking after our pets with our manu mates in mind.
Keep your pets away from nesting sites and indoors at night, keep them well fed and, when you're on beaches and trails: keep your dog on a lead!
3. Take the Lead
You can make a difference too by designing a Take the Lead bandana for your dog, or a friend or whanau's dog! Your dog gets to dress up, and be a spokes-dog for being considerate of our awesome natives.
Hint: you might want to sketch your design on paper before getting out the paints!
4. Bandana brilliance!!
Make your bandana from a large square of white cloth around 35cm x 35cm. You could cut up an old sheet or pillowcase! Fold it in half into a triangle (your design will go one one side).
Make your bandana design brilliant and bold. The lives of our awesome manu mates are at stake (and so is the fashion reputation of your dog!)
5. Be nice to our native neighbours!
The 'Take the Lead' message of your bandana, doesn't just apply to penguins. Much of our wildlife (e.g. kiwi) is also vulnerable to being hunted by uncontrolled pets like dogs and cats.
Keeping your dog on a lead might mean being able to be next-door neighbours with a living dinosaur: the tuatara, how cool is that?!
6. Parade on the dog-walk
We couldn’t call it a catwalk could we? Take the message to the trail or beach and you and your dog can be ambassadors for looking after our manu taonga (bird treasures) like kiwi and kororā.
Upload a photo to Wild Eyes to earn points and level-up!
7. Spread the word
Altogether now, As Rocky the Rockhopper Penguin says: "Taking the lead helps me safely breed! Rock on!"
8. Keep your cat cool with the birds
You can also help out our birds, lizards and insects by keeping your cat considerately. Keep your moggy well fed, microchipped and neutered, and ideally keep it on your property. If it's allowed to roam, put a collar with a bell on it to give the birds a warning ... or better yet: sew them a stylish scrunchie collar!
What's happening?
NZ = PENGUIN CENTRAL
There are six penguins that make their home on around NZ coasts: the yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho), little blue penguin (kororā), and Fiordland crested (tawaki), Snares crested (pictured here), rockhopper and erect-crested. In big numbers, or small, there will be penguins living somewhere close-by to you – you just might not know about them yet.
LIGHTNING BOLT BROWS
Tawaki just happen to be the model for the Wild Eyes logo too!
Do you reckon this handsome fella uses gel on his eyebrows?! Did you know: tawaki means 'clothed in lightning' in Māori. With that hairstyle it's easy to see where the name came from eh!
... but it's not all happy feet
It's possible that a world without Happy Feet could happen very soon. Ten of 18 penguin species are threatened with extinction.
What’s happening? They’re becoming homeless (habitat loss), they’re getting hungrier and trapped (due to fishing by humans) and on land they're getting attacked by our pets, like off-lead dogs and roaming cats.
This kororā was killed by an off-lead dog by Frank Kitts Park on the Wellington Waterfront. (photo: Bindi Robertson)
KIWIS ARE AT RISK TOO
TAKE THE LEAD: SAVE OUR MANU MATES!
Managing our pets better helps our kiwi mates and penguin pals (and me too!):
- Keep your dogs on the leash
- Put collars (with bells) on your cats
- Keep pets well fed
- Keep pets away from nesting sites, and indoors at night.
Inspiration
FLIGHT OF THE PENGUINS
Hang on a minute, penguins can't fly ... they're pretty sweet swimmers though! Have a laugh as Bret and Jemaine (aka Flight of the Conchords) learn about NZ's cool crested penguins.
PENGUIN EXPRESSWAY
We don't have to go the Sub-Antarctic Islands to hang out with these special sea-birds, if we are good neighbours with our natives we can have them living alongside us. In Oamaru they reduced the risk of their precious kororā getting hit by cars by building a tunnel under the road. Check out the kororā expressway!
BACKYARD KIWI
If we look after kiwi and keep them safe from predators we can have them in our backyard. Here Department of Conservation's Nic Toki checks out kiwi on Stewart Island, where (trained!) dogs play a key part in looking after these taonga (treasures).
BEACH PARTY!!
And if we trap pests and keep our penguins safe from our pets, one day our beaches might look like this ...
YOU HOLD THE KEY -AH!
Take the lead: save a kororā!!!
