All five species of kiwi are listed as "threatened" or "at risk", New Zealand's Department of Conservation says, and there are only 68,000 of the birds left in the wild, a figure declining by approximately 1,000 every year. Following stark warnings over its survival, the government set aside millions of dollars last year to save the "famous and precious" bird. "If we don't do more now to halt their decline, we risk losing wild kiwi forever," Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said at the time