23 Dec 2013

Auckland zoo puts down kiwi

7:14 pm on 23 December 2013

A kiwi being treated at Auckland Zoo for a serious dog bite has been put down.

The young adult female kiwi, named Jo after the hunter who found her on the Coromandel Peninsula last week, had been attacked by a fox terrier.

The zoo says the extent of dead tissue around the bird's wound meant it was unlikely to heal, and euthanising the bird was the kindest thing to do.