Overview
Polynesians and Europeans brought dogs Canis familiaris to NZ as hunting companions, and in the case of the Māori dog, as food. The Māori dog, or kurī, interbred and rapidly disappeared after the arrival of more aggressive European breeds (very few specimens of Māori dogs are held in museum collections, only one is held by Te Papa). Dogs are less likely to become feral than cats, but in the early 19th century small packs of dogs were reported and caused havoc among ground nesting birds. The depredation by dogs was graphically illustrated in the 1990's during a study of kiwi in a bush area near Whangārei where a single dog destroyed 500 kiwi.