29 May 2009

Police unlikely to catch thieving kea

10:02 pm on 29 May 2009

Police say they have little hope of catching a passport thief who struck near Milford Sound.

The culprit, a kea, was last seen travelling in the direction of bush.

The notoriously cheeky birds are renowned for their opportunistic foraging from tourists.

The latest victim was a Scottish tourist, whose brand-new passport was in a courier bag in the boot of a bus when the kea snatched it.