A Coromandel dog owner faces court over the deaths of two kiwi birds.
In a statement the Department of Conservation says they have "begun legal proceedings against a Coromandel dog owner after the discovery of a dead kiwi on private property adjacent to public conservation land".
Native bird remains were found last year in a native forest, known as a kiwi habitat, in Papa Aroha, 12 km south of Colville, the DOC Acting Operations Manager in Whitianga, David Agnew said in a statement.
Two dogs have been linked to the death of the kiwi through DNA evidence, the statement reads.
The owner of the two dogs will appear in the Thames District Court in March on charges under the Dog Control Act.
Last year alone, eight kiwi were killed by dogs in just the Coromandel Peninsula.
Penalties under the Dog Control Act include fines of up to $20,000 or up to three years in jail, with an order for dogs to be destroyed.
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