New Zealand’s prime minister yesterday joined a chorus of Kiwis complaining about the treatment of their national bird by a Miami zoo.
New Zealanders have been appalled by revelations that Zoo Miami allowed visitors to pet one of the shy nocturnal animals under harsh lights.
Zoo Miami on Tuesday issued an apology and said it had scrapped the interactive pet-a-kiwi experience, but not before videos of a kiwi named Paora being stroked went viral.
Photo: AFP
“The zoo [has] immediately taken steps to address the concerns that were raised,” New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.
“They have acknowledged that what they were doing wasn’t appropriate or wasn’t right or wasn’t fair to the kiwi,” he added. “I thank them for taking it seriously.”
Millions of kiwis used to roam before Western settlers arrived on the shores of New Zealand, where only about 70,000 are left in the wild.
The Zoo Miami bird is only one of about 60 kiwis housed outside of New Zealand, the New Zealand Department of Conservation said.
Kiwis are part of Maori mythology in New Zealand, where there was fierce condemnation of Paora’s treatment.
“It is obviously very clear your team [at Zoo Miami] is not equipped and has no clue how to care for this national treasure. Return Immediately, Paora,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Sell kiwi toys if you want to fundraise! This is unethical and cruel,” another user wrote.
In a statement, Zoo Miami said the “concerns expressed have been taken very seriously.”
“Effective immediately, the Kiwi Encounter will no longer be offered,” it added.
“It’s especially painful to all of us to think that anything that has occurred with Paora ... would be offensive to any of the wonderful people of New Zealand,” it said.
The zoo said it planned to build “a special habitat” for Paora to teach visitors about “the amazing kiwi” without direct contact.
Zoo Miami hatched the bird, which is named after Moari iwi leader and environmentalist Paora Haitana.
Haitana told Radio New Zealand that it was “a huge concern” to hear of his namesake’s treatment.
“It’s our signature, we’re known as the kiwi, so it goes against everything the bird was given to them for,” Haitana added.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation said it would contact Zoo Miami to “share our expertise and high standards for the respectful care of kiwi.”
A spokesperson added that they also planned to raise the matter with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, of which Zoo Miami is a member.
Pins hidden in her shoes, head forced down a toilet, kicked in the stomach: South Korean hairdresser Pyo Ye-rim suffered a litany of abuse from school bullies, but now she is speaking out. The 26-year-old is part of a phenomenon sweeping South Korea known as “Hakpok #MeToo,” where people who were bullied publicly name and shame the perpetrators of school violence — “hakpok” in Korean — decades after the alleged crimes. Made famous globally by Netflix’s gory revenge series The Glory, the movement has ensnared everyone from K-pop stars to baseball players and accusations — often anonymous — can be career-ending, with
One of Australia’s two active volcanoes on an island near Antarctica — known as Big Ben — has been spotted by satellite spewing lava. The lava flow on the uninhabited Heard Island, about 4,100km southwest of Perth and 1,500km north of Antarctica, is part of an ongoing eruption that was first noted more than a decade ago. The image was caught by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite on Thursday, and is a composite of an optical picture and an infrared image. The lava is seen flowing down the side of Big Ben from near the summit, known as Mawson Peak.
TIME TO TALK: Among China’s grievances were economic and trade issues related to Taiwan, but both countries emphasized the need to maintain communication US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) on Friday raised complaints about China’s state-led economic policies during a meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤), who objected to US tariffs and trade policies, as well as issues related to Taiwan, their offices said. However, statements from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce emphasized the need for Washington and Beijing to maintain communication on trade. “Ambassador Tai highlighted the need to address the critical imbalances caused by China’s state-led, non-market approach to the economy and trade policy,” the USTR said in a statement released after the
READY FOR ACTION: Military, police, firefighters and volunteers were standing by for search-and-rescue operations, with an official saying they ‘cannot afford not to prepare’ Philippine officials yesterday began evacuating thousands of people, shut down schools and offices and imposed a no-sail ban as Typhoon Mawar approached the country’s northern provinces a week after battering the US territory of Guam. The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 155kpm and gusts of up to 190kph, but was forecast to spare the mountainous region a direct hit. Current projections show the typhoon veering northeast toward Taiwan or southern Japan. Although it is expected to slow down considerably, authorities warned of dangerous tidal surges, flash floods and landslides as it blows past the northernmost province of Batanes from today