New Zealand kiwi face extinction from introduced predators. Predator control programs protect kiwi populations but raise welfare considerations for the predators being controlled.
Kiwi conservation involves genuine welfare trade-offs between protecting native wildlife and managing invasive predators. 1080 poisoning, the most effective large-scale predator control tool in New Zealand, causes acute suffering during toxicosis in stoats, possums, and rats — animals that are themselves sentient and capable of suffering. The welfare calculus involves comparing this suffering against the welfare and survival of kiwi and many other native species that predators threaten. The predator-free sanctuary model using intensive ground control achieves kiwi recovery with higher animal welfare standards — but at much greater cost and smaller scale. New technologies including biological control, gene drives, and novel toxicants with better welfare profiles are being researched as humane alternatives.