{"id":490407,"date":"2026-06-22T20:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490407\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:12:09","slug":"whangarei-bird-rescue-founders-fined-by-doc-after-social-media-post-reveals-member-of-public-holding-a-kiwi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490407\/","title":{"rendered":"Whang\u0101rei bird rescue founders fined by DoC after social media post reveals member of public holding a kiwi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert believes the fine is unfair and disproportionate, saying it reflected a broader shift away from the nuanced, common-sense approach<\/a> on which he and Robyn built the centre when it first opened in 1992. <\/p>\n

DoC, however, says the enforcement action was necessary and followed repeated breaches of the centre\u2019s wildlife permit. <\/p>\n

Dylan Swain, DoC\u2019s team lead for wildlife crime<\/a> said kiwi permits require handlers \u2013 Robert being one \u2013 to follow a best practice manual.<\/p>\n

The manual states that during advocacy encounters, kiwi may only be held by an approved kiwi handler, to protect the bird\u2019s welfare. <\/p>\n

Swain said Robert was advised he would receive a fine and a warning letter \u2013 the fine for unauthorised handling of a juvenile kiwi, and the warning for four other breaches of permissions. <\/p>\n

DoC also offered Robert support to help the trust become compliant, Swain said. <\/p>\n

He believed the centre was receptive when DoC staff visited yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe value the work of the Whang\u0101rei Native Bird Recovery Centre<\/a>, but repeated breaches of the permit since 2019 have required us to take action,\u201d Swain said. <\/p>\n

DoC had not approved any member of the public holding the chick involved, he said. <\/p>\n

Robert said the incident lasted seconds and he would not have allowed it if he thought there was any risk to the kiwi. <\/p>\n

It was a common-sense discretionary call he has made for years, without any ill effect.<\/p>\n

It was only noticed because the visitor later posted a photograph on social media. <\/p>\n

Robert pointed to the centre\u2019s long-lived resident kiwi Sparky, who came to the centre as a chick 23 years ago. <\/p>\n

He has since travelled to schools around the country with DoC\u2019s blessing. <\/p>\n

Robert recalled times when he would sit Sparky on his knee and allow school children to pat Sparky\u2019s back as they filed out of sessions. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew exactly what we did. Now suddenly it\u2019s all wrong,\u201d Webb said.<\/p>\n

\"Whang\u0101reiWhang\u0101rei Native Bird Recovery Centre founder Robert Webb has taken Sparky the kiwi to visit numerous schools over the years.<\/p>\n

He rejected DoC\u2019s claim it had never authorised similar public handling of kiwi, pointing to an occasion when former Prime Minister Helen Clark was allowed to hold a chick with departmental approval.<\/p>\n

Swain said DoC had no record of the incident and noted that rules and best practice had since changed, making such handling unlikely to be permitted today.<\/p>\n

Robert fears tourists will stop visiting if they are no longer allowed to view a kiwi or see the native birds recovering in the enclosures at the back of the centre \u2013 access DoC also wants to restrict. <\/p>\n

He believes those kinds of proposals would cause the centre to fail and eventually close and \u201cit will be the birds that will suffer,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Robert noted he and Robyn have long saved DoC time, money, and logistical effort by responding to callouts that rangers would otherwise struggle to reach quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cDoC ring me on weekends about birds out at different beaches. By the time they get a vehicle released and get permission to go out, the bird would be dead. We can have a local pick it up and courier it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

That on-the-ground responsiveness is part of what has kept the centre effective for decades, Robert said. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Native Bird Recovery Centre was founded in Whangarei in 1992 by Robert (pictured) and Robyn Webb. The couple have worked there voluntarily seven days a week ever since. <\/p>\n

Recent committee decisions have left Robert and Robyn feeling increasingly sidelined, he said. <\/p>\n

He believes the stress may have contributed to his recent hospital stay for a heart issue. <\/p>\n

The brewing situation at the centre feels like \u201cout with the old, in with the new\u201d, Robert said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given our lives to this place.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sarah Curtis<\/a> is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years\u2019 experience in journalism, most of which she spent reporting on the courts in Gisborne and the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert believes the fine is unfair and disproportionate, saying it reflected a broader shift away from the nuanced,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,1558,35875,3595,1550,22195,6119,29467,19631,19363,305,21666,194,1073,1329,126,111,43,139,69,1118,3117,3109,1881,8527,1517,3046,3876,1072,83116,3329,1869,1530],"class_list":["post-490407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-been","tag-bird","tag-by","tag-centre","tag-doc","tag-faces","tag-familiar","tag-fined","tag-founders","tag-have","tag-holding","tag-kiwi","tag-media","tag-member","tag-native","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-post","tag-public","tag-recovery","tag-rescue","tag-reveals","tag-robert","tag-robyn","tag-social","tag-steady","tag-webb","tag-whangrei","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}