New Zealand First MP Edwin Perry has called on the Government to show Christmas spirit by doubling kiwi recovery programme funding. New Zealand First MP Edwin Perry has called on the Government to show Christmas spirit by doubling kiwi recovery programme funding.
"The present sum of $3 million per annum is miserly and were it not for the efforts of (Department of Conservation) staff and hundreds of volunteers our national icon would be in an even worse position than it is at present," Mr Perry said.
New Zealand's national bird is on the endangered species list with its plight growing more desperate, he said, calling on Finance Minister Michael Cullen to donate some of his surplus.
"A Christmas present of extra resources would give a boost to efforts to save kiwis and would have downstream benefits for other endangered species," Mr Perry said.
"It would also save us from the embarrassment of having to confess that as a country we cannot adequately protect our national bird."
In September, it was estimated 60,000 kiwi in the wild were being killed at the rate of 11 a day.
Chilling proof of extinction outside the five kiwi sanctuaries had come from Northland, where a research station that monitored kiwi calls for more than 20 years has fallen silent, the last bird gone.
