A United States zoo has apologised after the possible mistreatment of a kiwi by handlers and visitors sparked outrage in New Zealand.
New Zealanders complained to Zoo Miami and local officials this week with calls and emails over its treatment of a member of the country’s native kiwi species.
Zoo Miami was offering $US25 ($A38) kiwi encounter sessions during which guests could stroke the bird’s head while in a fully lit room.
The videos, posted to social media, outraged New Zealanders because the kiwi is a nocturnal bird that detests bright light.
Following the reports, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation told media that it was raising concerns about the kiwi’s treatment to Zoo Miami officials.
Ron Magill, the zoo’s communications director, told the Miami Herald that he and other zoo officials have been in touch with the conservation department and were pained to have offended New Zealand.
The kiwi experience, he said, was discontinued “first thing this morning”.
“We owe an apology to the people of New Zealand,” Magill said.
The zoo apologised on social media.
“First and foremost, on behalf of everyone at Zoo Miami, please accept our most profound and sincere apology for the stress initiated by a video on social media depicting the handling and housing of ‘Paora,’ the kiwi bird that is presently under our care,” the zoo said in a statement.
“The concerns expressed… have been taken very seriously and as result, effective immediately, the Kiwi Encounter will no longer be offered,” it said.
“Though Paora has thrived at Zoo Miami while receiving the best care available, the development of the Kiwi Encounter was, in hindsight, not well conceived with regard to the national symbolism of this iconic animal and what it represents to the people of New Zealand, especially the Maori.”
The zoo, Magill said, did not research the kiwi’s needs as much as it should have.
The bird will now spend its days in a dark habitat and explore its surroundings at night.
Whenever it is taken out of its home, like for vet visits, lights will be kept as dim as possible.
“The outcome is that this kiwi will become the best cared for kiwi in the entire United States,” Magill said, adding that the bird is in excellent health.
Helen McFarlane, who lives in New Zealand, told the Miami Herald she was shocked to see the kiwi at Zoo Miami on the news.
Although the zoo has already made changes, she worries the kiwi could die from being mishandled.
“I believe it should be brought back here where we know how to care for them,” McFarlane said.
“They’ve had their chance and it was in my view grossly mistreated.”
For McFarlane, circuses and zoos are not appropriate environments for wildlife.
“Its time we thought more about (animals as) our fellow earth dwellers,” McFarlane said.
“As I said its not Disneyland – how are they treating other animals there?”
Zoo Miami’s first kiwi, which hatched in 2019, was named Paora after Paora Haitana, a Maori leader dedicated to wildlife conservation.
The kiwi egg was loaned to South Florida by the Smithsonian National Zoological Park through a partnership with the New Zealand government.