Forest & Bird is calling on anti-1080 protestors to tell police who shot the weka left on Parliament steps at an anti-1080 rally on 12th September.

According to a summary of official autopsy reports, released under the Official Information Act, two of the birds had been killed by vehicles, two were likely to have flown into windows, one was too decomposed to tell the cause of death, and an adult male weka had been shot, most likely with a .22 rifle.

Autopsy summary here

“Weka are such special birds, anyone who encountered one will have a story to tell. It’s very concerning that someone out there has deliberately hurt a native bird, and passed it on to be used as a prop in their campaign of misinformation,” says Kevin Hague, Forest & Bird’s Chief Executive.

“Like all our native animals, weka need their forest homes to be from safe rats and stoats. We should all be supporting the Department of Conservation to do what they do best, which is care for our native wildlife.

“It’s an offence under the Wildlife Act to shoot protected birds. The protest leader mislead the country by claiming the birds had been killed by 1080, and then denied he said it. He needs to distance himself from this latest criminal act and tell the police what he knows about who killed this weka,” says Mr Hague.

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