A major campaign is underway to protect the Haast tokoeka kiwi from predators, with Department of Conservation rangers on the front-line.

The Kiwi are down to just 400 birds, and are ranked as nationally critical, with stoats being one of the main concerns.

"The stoats will prey upon eggs and they'll also take out young chicks, they basically can take on any kiwi up to about a kilo," DOC ranger Kailish Willis says.

In a bid to save the birds 1200 traps are being placed within the bird sanctuary on the West Coast that have been made by Kiwi company Goodnature.

Goodnature makes its traps in Wellington and exports them around the world, controlling everything from mongoose in Pacific America to mink in Europe.

However, it isn't just predators the Kiwi have to worry about as their sanctuary was built on a site earmarked for a water pipeline to bottle water for export.

Local company Okuru Enterprises gained an easement to do so from DOC in 1994, which they plan to act on before the permit expires in 2019.