Dogs are really important family members to many New Zealand families. However, when stoats are the biggest threat to kiwi chicks, dogs can still be the biggest threat to adult kiwi's because even an inquisite sniff could be incredibly damaging to a kiwi’s exquisite and delicate chest. 

It’s important to understand how to keep kiwi and other wildlife safe while you’re out walking your dog. Kiwi don’t have breastplates and chest muscles to protect their internal organs like other birds do therefore, just a gentle nudge from an inquisitive dog has the potential to crush it's very easily frail rib cage even along with their internal organs, even if the dog wasn’t aggressive. 

It’s not just wild dogs that cause the damage. If there is a roaming or wandering dog, any dog that is somewhere it shouldn’t be roaming could be harmful.

Research and information investigated by Kristopher