Stumpy the one-legged kea and his mate Casper, whose decades-old head injury required him to live in captivity as well, have both unexpectedly died following a visit by the Department of Conservation to their enclosure in Darfield, Canterbury.
The elderly alpine parrots, who are believed to be 43 years old, had been looked after by Ron Stewart’s family for the past 41 years, he told Stuff.
But recently, DOC had taken steps to remove the birds so they could live out their remaining years in a larger enclosure, he said.
Last week, a vet arrived with a DOC ranger to weigh the endangered birds, and to take blood and feather samples. Less than 24 hours later, they were both dead.
"I told them again the birds would not be able to handle it," Mr Stewart’s daughter, Diana Stewart, told Stuff. "That’s when they basically pushed past us and headed towards the aviaries."
Over the next hour, the sounds coming from the enclosure were excruciating, the Stewarts said.
"The birds were screaming with pain," Mr Stewart explained. "I’ve never, ever heard a kea scream like that."
DOC has described the deaths as shocking, unintended and "deeply concerning".
The agency attempted to collect the birds yesterday so they could be sent away for a necropsy, but staff were instead kicked off the Stewart family’s property, Stuff reports.
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