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.
The zoo had begun charging guests about US$24 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.
饲养员在摸宝拉时看起来很用力，宝拉的头被越压越低，紧紧闭着眼……
“它喜欢躲在黑暗的地方。” 饲养员说着，把宝拉放到院子里，只见它向着小木箱跑去。
“它一定要等到天黑以后，再钻进箱子（And he’ll stand there until it gets dark before he goes in the box）。” 饲养员把木箱的盖子关上，“你等个五秒钟，然后……奇迹出现啦（And you wait like 5 seconds and as if magic he’ll be）！”
“Most time when you go see kiwi exhibits, it’s really hard to see them. They’re not very good exhibit animals…And that’s why we do these VIP experiences, because you’re never going to get to really see him up close.”
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.
It is symbolic of the country's unique natural heritage and the basis for the nickname applied to its people. It’s also considered a taonga (cultural treasure) by Māori.
Kiwi are endangered, with only around 70,000 of the birds left in New Zealand and, therefore, in the world, according the country's Department of Conservation (Doc).
It is incredibly rare for kiwi to be kept in captivity, with conservation efforts in New Zealand focused on preserving their natural habitats from predators.
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”.
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.
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 broadcaster Radio NZ.
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”.
Pāora is usually kept out of public view, according to Zoo Miami, which says plans are "under way" to build a special habitat that will provide him the shelter he needs, while also teaching guests "about the amazing kiwi without any direct contact".