A new Kiwi Coast roadside billboard has been installed by Whakaangi Landcare at Hihi, to ensure visitors to the area know that kiwi are present and dogs need to be controlled to ensure their survival.
Whakaangi Landcare coordinator Bruce Jarvis says:
“Last weekend with help from Bryan Staff and Johno Murray from Hihi we replaced the old ‘Any Dog Can Kill Kiwi’ sign with the new ‘Kiwi Live Here’ sign.
Special thanks to Kiwi Coast for producing the sign and the Department of Conservation for paying for it. The Hihi residents and Whakaangi Landcare Trust members voted on two choices of image and also voted on including Te Reo Maori. The results of the vote were overwhelming to include Te Reo Maori, but the choice of image was close. Because of this we are intending to swap out the sign in future with the other image.
We are also very grateful to Danny Reinhart for the use of his paddock. We hope the sign continues to keep our precious taonga safe and encourages dog owners to keep there pet under control and away from our forest.”
The new billboard joins two roadside signs already in place on State Highway 1 at Hikurangi and at Ngunguru on the Tutukaka Coast that went up last year just before Christmas. A fourth sign will next be installed at Mangamuka.
