Three more kiwi have been found dead at a wildlife sanctuary in Wairarapa, making a total of 12 birds killed by predators in the past month.
The Department of Conservation said last week that nine kiwi had been killed in the Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre, near Masterton.
Since then, DoC has been doing a stocktake of the sanctuary's remaining 45 kiwi, which are fitted with tracking transmitters.
That's revealed 41 are alive, three are dead, and one bird is unaccounted for.
DoC says it is likely a male ferret caught in the area last week is responsible for all of the killings, although a post-mortem on the animal was inconclusive.
It says the three dead kiwi found this week were killed prior to the ferret's capture.
