America’s Zoo Miami offends entire nation of New Zealand with its treatment of Paora the kiwi bird 

A US zoo has apologized after insulting New Zealand for the ‘indefensible’ treatment of Paora, a brown kiwi that was hatched under its care.

Zoo Miami charged $40 per head for a “kiwi encounter,” where the public four days a week pet the bird and scratch its head in a brightly lit room with no hiding place.

TikTok videos taken by visitors to the US Zoo show Paora sprinting to a wooden box to shelter in his enclosure, then a keeper laughing as he lifts the hinged lid to expose him.

He also knocks the bird over as he grabs it.

The zoo began its personal kiwi experience up close with Paora, who was born in the US in 2019, without verifying that the plans were in line with the animal’s natural behavior.

Jeseka Kate Christieson, a New Zealander who started the petition, said the zoo’s pledge to end its kiwi experience was a victory, but Paora’s treatment was ‘more than a joke’

Aside from not being able to fly, kiwis are nocturnal and hunt prey that contact mates at night.

In the heat of the day, the birds can dry out and die.

A best practice handbook for kiwifruit handling, available to the zoo, says the birds “shouldn’t be taken out of their burrows just to let people see and touch them.”

“The birds should not be handled more than … 2-3 times a year for adults.”

The handbook also says that people should not “touch the bird’s head, facial hair, or beak.”

The Zoo Miami caretaker shown in videos touches Paora’s beak, as the weight of his hand on the bird’s head knocks him down.

Experts have said that the moving and bright lights would have put Paora under immense stress and even shortened his lifespan.

Animals placed in zoos where they cannot follow their natural instincts often do not survive, such as polar bears, tigers, cheetahs and lions and great white sharks.

Following widespread outrage over the videos, the zoo halted the kiwi encounter and issued a deep public apology to the entire New Zealand nation.

They have every reason to be outraged. We are deeply sorry,” said Ron Magill, “goodwill ambassador” for Zoo Miami.

‘Five minutes [on show] is too long to expose an animal to [patting and light] if it is nocturnal.

“We offer our sincere apologies, I can tell you that we have listened to you… Effective immediately, that entire meeting has been eliminated.

‘The public will soon no longer have access to the kiwi.’

Kiwis are considered ‘treasures’ to New Zealand’s Maori people, who believed the ratites survived under the protection of the ‘god of the forest’.

Videos showed Zoo Miami’s zookeeper knocking the kiwi so that it fell. Handbooks on the bird’s care say that its head should never be touched by humans

An Outraged Animal Lover Started An Online Petition To ‘Help Save This Abused Kiwi’ That Gained 12,634 Signatures

A TikTok video made by visitors to the US Zoo showed Paora sprinting to a wooden box to take shelter in its enclosure, but the keeper lifted the lid and laughed

Maori wove their feathers into cloaks and even included kiwi in the Treaty of Waitangi settlement claims.

However, the significance of kiwifruit to New Zealanders goes beyond that.

The bird is New Zealand’s best-known national symbol, and since World War I the word kiwi has meant ‘New Zealander’.

An outraged animal lover started one online petition to ‘Help save this abused kiwi’, which received 12,634 signatures.

Jeseka Kate Christieson, a receptionist in Hamilton who started the petition, said the zoo’s pledge to end the kiwi experience was a victory but “should be taken with a grain of salt.”

“They shouldn’t have started the encounters anyway,” Ms Christieson, 23, whose body is covered in animal tattoos, told the Daily Mail Australia.

‘Google is free, they have a brown kiwi care guide that not only New Zealanders should follow, but the 60 caretakers of offshore kiwis too!

‘Our taonga [treasures] are more than precious to us and we have a lot of mana [life force]a lot of pride in our native wildlife and to see it disrespected was more than a joke.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins also joined the debate, saying the zoo was right to abandon the meeting with the kiwis.

The zoo also apologized with a lengthy social media post, which received a mixed response.

“You paraded him like a show dog under bright lights and let people handle him. He should never have been subjected to such treatment,” said one woman.

Another added: “All of Aotearoa is watching and the majority are shocked.”

Ron Magill, ‘goodwill ambassador’ for Zoo Miami, claimed the zoo was ‘deeply sorry’

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins joined the debate, saying the zoo was right to abandon the Kiwi encounter

Why was the meeting considered a good idea in the first place?

“Why does it take four years to give Paora a place to stay?”

One man wrote that the meaning of kiwis to New Zealanders ‘is like koalas and kangaroos combined to Australians’.

Several people called for Paora to be sent to NZ, but that has been ruled out because the bird could be considered a ‘biosecurity risk’ because it was raised in the United States.