Training programmes for working dogs and pets are aimed at protecting the flightless bird’s dwindling numbers, but they come at a cost
Tip, a young hunting dog, pads up a goat track through New Zealand’s damp forest undergrowth, alert and excited as her nose hoovers the ground for smells. She stops suddenly to investigate an irresistible scent – the sweet, musty aroma of kiwi.
Tip is allowed a moment to inhale before a low-level electric pulse, issued from a collar, warns her that this bird is out of bounds. She briefly recoils, the electric signal enough to form an immediate negative association with the smell.