Westies – we need your help to protect the amazing kuaka, or godwits, that have begun their yearly trip to our shores for summer.
With another Tāmaki Makaurau stunner on the way, keep your dogs on a lead and away from prohibited areas to protect birds in our parks and on our walking tracks, including at the local Harbourview-Orangihina Park.
This spring and summer, the animal management west team patrols will include Harbourview-Orangihina Park.
The patrol protects wildlife that resides in our coastal areas over summer by checking and reminding locals of dog walking regulations.
Off-leash dogs are the most immediate threat to kuaka and other threatened and endangered birds and other wildlife on the coast.
Checking and following the dog walking rules in your local area is an easy way to do your part in protecting kuaka and other birds.
In Harbourview-Orangihina Park, kuaka actively feed and rest in the vast tidal mudflat areas that surround the park.
Henderson-Massey Local Board Chair Chris Carter says that it is vital for locals to respect dog walking rules this summer.
“Dog walking bylaws exist in our parks for good reason – we have a duty to do what we can to protect all of our local species that rely on harbour ecosystems, including migrating birds like kuaka,” he says.
“In Harbourview-Orangihina Park, dogs are prohibited in the beach and foreshore areas.
“In other park areas dogs must be walked on leashes. The grass area between the carpark and Te Atatū Road is the only area where dogs are permitted off-leash.”
Kuaka are amazing birds that take a massive journey across the world.
Starting from their breeding grounds in the Northern Hemisphere, from as far north as Alaska, they take an epic non-stop flight across the enormous distance south to visit our shores over summer and avoid the harsh winter they’ve left behind.
Over our summer, they find temporary homes across Aotearoa in tidal flats, including in Te Atatū Peninsula, where they feed and bulk up to get ready for their onward journey.
In late summer, they head back north to Alaska, with a refuel stop in China’s Yellow Sea, continuing their migrations across the world.
Let’s show these little travellers our hospitality and help them to stay safe as they prepare for their onward journey, ready to return next summer.
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