North Canterbury News: November 24, 2022

Dotterel facing multiple threats
By DAVID HILL,
Local Democracy Reporter
Kaikōura conservationist Ailsa McGilvary­
Howardbelieves it willtake achangein
legislation to save our native seabirds.
Ms McGilvary­Howard has spent the last
decadeadvocatingfor Kaikōura’sbanded
dotterel sea birds and is atrustee of the
Hutton’s Shearwater Charitable Trust.
She says the dotterel face multiple
threats including cats, dogs,four­wheeldrive
vehicles on the beach and crash
landing due to streetlighting.
‘‘People just don’t seemtocare, so what
we need is achange in legislation,
otherwise we willlose them and we are
losingthem.’’
Anesting site which she monitors had 25
pairs of dotterelafew years ago, but this
numberhas reducedtojust 11 breeding
pairs.
‘‘We had two domesticcats go absolutely
rampant recently. It was reallydepressing,
but we can’tdoanythingabout catsand
then we get dogs on the beach.And do
peopleneed to drive on the beach?’’
Ms McGilvary­Howard says peopleoften
assumeshe hatesanimals, but she has a
dog of her own.
‘‘I am an animal lover too,but my dog is
not allowed to eatchickens.’’
Part of the problemisthere are few
mammals native to New Zealand, so the
dotterelhas not naturally evolved with
mammalpredators like birds in other
countries.
‘‘The New Zealand dotterels and other
sea birds are smelly and some of the most
tasty,which draws in cats and dogs,’’ she
says.
‘‘Thatiswhy birds introduced from
Australia are doing well, becausethey had
marsupials which is aform of mammal.’’
Added to the lossofbreedingpairsisthe
lack newborn dotterel chicks, as eggs are
often crushed or eaten.
NEWS
North Canterbury News, November 24, 2022
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Conservationists ... Ailsa McGilvary­Howard (left) and her husband Ted Howard are wellknown
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Whenchicks are close to hatching they
chirp, making them vulnerable to
predators.
‘‘Cats are intrigued by the chirp and they
comeand play with it.’’
Whenfaced withthese threats, it all gets
too hard and adultdotterels will often
abandon theirnest.
‘‘A clutch of eggs, which is three eggs,is
halfofthe body mass of afemale,soifshe
leaves the nest it is ahuge investment
lost.’’
Ms McGilvary­Howard completed aselffunded
project, the Banded Dotterel Study,
six years ago and has long been fascinated
by the birds.
‘‘Ifyou spend time lookingatthe birds
you realise they are intelligent, but you
can’t tame themand we wouldn’t want to
cream to support their
joints and muscles.
“I said Iwould give it
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tame them. Ilike the way they have
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really resourceful.’’
It has been thoughtthe birds mate for
life,but recent studiessuggestitisnot
always the case.MsMcGilvary­Howard’s
observations have found apair willshare
the tasks of makingthe nest, gathering
food and incubatinganegg or newborn
chick.
Otherthreats to the birds include storm
events, earthquakes and climate change.
She sayswithouthuman intervention the
dotterel willlikely become extinct and she
wouldlike to see theirnesting areasmade
into reserves with restricted access.
Predator proof fences wouldbeideal, but
for nowMsMcGilvary­Howard asksthat
people keep theircats and dogs at home.
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15
Maori ward
on agenda
Mana whenua representation in
Kaikōura will be considered again next
year.
Kaikōura District Council chief
executive Will Doughty says the council
will consider aMaori ward as part of its
representation review during the 2023/24
financial year.
DiscussiononaMaori ward is not new
to Kaikōura. The council voted in 2018 to
establish aMaori wardfor the 2019 and
2022 local government elections.
But it faced abacklash after lobby
group Hobson’s Pledge distributed
pamphlets, whichled to areferendum
where the proposal was defeated.
Mana whenua representation was back
on the agenda last year, butthe council
opted not to create aMaori ward after
extensive consultation with Te Runānga
oKaikōura.
‘‘We work really closely with the
runānga,’’ Mr Doughty says. ‘‘When the
opportunity for Maori representation
came in we had aworkshop with the
runānga around Maori wards.
‘‘It wasn’t a‘no’, but a‘not right now’.’’
He says there are still anumber of
unanswered questions, especially
around the speed of the process. The
council meetsregularly with the runānga
to discussissues of concern andthe
partnership is important to both parties,
he says.
‘‘We have been looking at thepotential
for advisory committees and the review
process will give us achance to have
another look. But we are also conscious
that there are quite alot of demands
being put on the runānga,soitisabout
working together in partnership in away
that works best for both of us.’’
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