I Stuart

Peter Fitzgerald should have no fears for the future of kiwi because of weka. (Weka woes, Beacon, March 25).

Weka are native birds and have lived side-by-side with kiwi for hundreds of years before humans arrived in these islands.

I didn’t know weka still lived in the North Island. I was delighted to first see them when we moved here.

We have watched successive generations bred on our rural property.

These birds live side-by-side with pukeko. There are occasional squabbles between the two groups; not surprising as both species are omnivorous, competing for the same food.

Neither population has been reduced as a result.

But the farmers around Awakeri are probably pleased the pukeko population has been reduced.

These birds can carry salmonella, which can be passed on to livestock. My neighbours have, in the past, asked me to shoot the birds for this reason, but I was reluctant to agree.

What is noticeable is that since we no longer keep domestic cats, and I control the feral population here, there is a significant increase in the bird population.

This tells me there are other animals out there that could be reducing the bird population around Awakeri.

Feral cats are an apex predator. There are also stoats, ferrets, weasels and rats, all of which I try to control here.

Mr Fitzgerald may argue that cats will not kill ducks. Before we moved here, we had a small farm and kept muscovies, much larger than the mallards commonly seen.

We often lost muscovies to feral cats, so I can assure you that feral cats can, and do, kill ducks.

Fish and Game also estimate that up to one million ducks are taken each shooting season. Taking that many ducks out of a population has to impact on overall numbers.

So, Mr Fitzgerald, there are many other reasons why the bird population in your area has reduced, and weka are no threat to our kiwi.