Conservationists are calling for a community discussion about quad bike use rules after a vehicle killed a dotterel and her chicks at a Kaikōura beach.
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Those studying the native banded dotterel in Kaikōura had been following this particular bird for seven years, and said she had spent the past 30 days diligently sitting on her eggs.
Study lead Ailsa McGilvary-Howard told Breakfast the bird had been hit so hard its “eyes were popping out” and the chest cavity was open.
“As a human being, I was traumatised. I was grief-filled. I could not hold it, and that vision of seeing it hit my consciousness again and again,” she said.
“It was really, really difficult.”
McGilvary-Howard said she believed there was support in the community for a discussion about a ban on quad bikes or vehicles in the area as there had been an “outpouring of outrage” following the incident.
“People say ‘why hasn’t this happened?’, it’s because we don’t have agreement, and we need to have community agreement for this to happen.”
She said it’s not the first dotterel killed by a quad bike in the area, and stronger access rules would make a “huge difference”.
“One of the beautiful things about South Bay is that if people wish to use a quad bike for access to places, we have one top track that is actually at the top of the beach that could be used if people are happy to use that track only.”
