Dogs kill endangered wekas

At least 14 endangered weka were killed last week by roaming dogs on Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Department of Conservation (DOC) biodiversity manager Rory Renwick said the dogs were found in the grounds of Mansion House on Tuesday morning, with the dead weka, a peacock and a wallaby nearby.

The owner of the two dogs lost track of them when out walking, he said.

Kawau Island has about 3500 weka, two thirds of the population of the birds in the North Island.

"Kawau is by far the strong hold, but definitely can't sustain that kind of a hammering. We found 14 but there could well be a lot more of them (killed)," he said.

DOC is "trying to find out exactly what happened and make sure it does not happen again in the future," he said.

Mr Renwick could not say whether the owner of the dogs would be fined over this incident.

- NZPA