Kiwi are New Zealand's iconic endangered birds, and conservation interventions including predator control and captive rearing programs involve welfare considerations alongside conservation goals.
Kiwi conservation involves welfare decisions at multiple levels. Operation Nest Egg imposes welfare costs of captive rearing on individual birds to achieve conservation benefits for the population. Predator control using 1080 is effective at protecting kiwi but causes welfare harm to target animals and has potential non-target effects. Monitoring and research involves handling that causes stress to wild birds. These welfare costs are justified by conservation necessity when properly managed and minimized. The alternative — allowing predators to eliminate kiwi populations — causes far greater welfare harm at the population level. Supporting evidence-based conservation management that honestly engages with these trade-offs is the appropriate response.