#paora

So this morning a staffmate told me about the recent Miami Zoo Kiwi incident that’s come to light, and I’ve been fucking livid all day.

Just been reading through a bunch of articles (majority NZ news sources) and the Zoo’s official statement, and somehow it’s even worse than what my irate coworker was able to convey to me. Miami Zoo had the absolute fucking privilege of receiving a (North Isl. Brown (?)) kiwi egg to hatch and raise as a species you would never normally see outside our little island at the bottom of the world as part of a some global zoo wildlife initiative.

Brief brief summary: viral videos coming out of this kiwi (Paora) being put on a table and patted by paying customers under bright lights, having selfies taken, made to run around during the day, keeper pursuing him whenever he tried to hide in his box. All around blasé attitude from keeper talking about this bird while he’s being paraded about on display. There’s video footage but I could seriously only stomach watching it once. He’s been there for 4 years and in the wake of this outrage they’re claiming to be building him a ‘proper enclosure’ now. He’s been handled like this at least 4 times a week and his current enclosure has been 3x3m.

They had access to super fucking detailed information on how to take care of this very sensitive and specialized animal, and what the fuck do they do? Disregard ALL of it to sell cutesy, ~rare bird~, self-obsessed animal encounters.

Either you knowingly and intentionally went against SO. MUCH. vital animal husbandry or you are just such a fuckwit you legitimately think it was good animal handling, I don’t know which is worse honestly. If it’s the former, congratulations; American Capitalism continues to be the most nasty, disrespectful piece of shit I see regularly parading about in broad daylight. If it’s the latter, then are your staff for real just exotic pet-obsessed freaks who showed up one day in a uniform and you just went ‘yeah sure you can be a zookeeper good enough’. Shoutout to that ‘keeper’ who had Paora’s head pinned to the fucking table with his fist going ‘hohoh yeah he’s just like a dog he loves being pat on the head’ yeah sure thing idiot I bet your zookeeper degree taught you all animals and birds especially just love being slapped around and treated like dogs.

The thing that’s got me the most though, is how over the top and pitiful they are being in their apology; “we’ve offended a nation...”, “it should have never happened”, “we are so sorry this video has caused stress to people”, ok yeah but fuck what we think why is there exactly ZERO mention of the stress, harm and sheer exploitation you have put this animal through??? Like yes, Paora is a taonga species and that is certainly adding to the severity of this response, but in and of itself the fact that their official statement answers ONLY to humans’ responses and outrage and not the failure to care for this animal is telling as fuck to me.

I really liked reading iwi leader Paora Haitana’s response (who Paora the kiwi is named after), in much nicer words than me expressing deep concern over the harm to Paora, the disrespect it is to him as a taonga species and us as protectors of them, and also heavy, heavy emphasis on words holding no shape under the weight of everything that has happened; they need to follow through and follow through right now with adequate care.

Personally I’d like to see Paora moved to a zoo that actually cares about his needs and conservation education over selling clickbait. I feel the love and intention of bringing him home to Aotearoa, though I don’t know how realistic that is with the risk of introducing diseases from abroad into the NZ populations. I also would expect a thorough investigation of Zoo Miami’s husbandry for all their species and the credentials of their staff.

Thanks for coming along to rant o’ clock, I’ll be back to reblogging regular fandom shit now so please don’t follow me if you’re expecting more of my own content lol. Enjoy some great twitter banter from this mess

Call for NZ experts to help care for Paora the kiwi after US zoo sparks ...

apocalypse mom apocalypse mom a

im still working draft uhhh 3??? of walking extinct rn but asmr shes the main leader of the group

shes awkward around Lil kids but lil teens and up shes alright with

paora @ 13 year old inti: its free child

shes kinda strict with teens but its not that shes trying ot be mean, its just a stressful lifestyle and she doesnt want to have “teen out and a about in a compromised situation” be something to worry about

she was the hardest on inti after she first took it in, mostly because it kept going [ah] at everything, but later on was a lil easier

she has a prosthetic arm! it was originally sawed off by a big sawfish dsjfds

she has an albertaceratops named autumn :) she also has prosthetic limbs

Please spread word.

Idk what’s wrong with a Zoo to treat an animal like this but please spread word. To be clear no animal should be treated this way. But I’m specifically talking about an animal that represents a nation. It’s literally the nick name of our people.

The “we’ll do better” is lies because they say they’re building a better enclosure while at the same time saying the enclosure before was fine.

This has to stop and these people should see consequences.

To the Kiwis, contact your MPs tell them not to accept poor excuses.

We were wrong - Zoo Miami apologises for treatment of kiwi

The zoo issued an apology on the Breakfast news show today in Aotearoa New Zealand.

While I'm still horribly upset that it was allowed to happen, I'm glad to see that the representative is not making excuses and is taking responsibility for the poor treatment of Paora.

WTF! They clearly do not know how to handle this precious bird. They are nocturnal and sensitive creatures.

They are not lap dogs to be patted under fluorescent lights! Especially not their whiskers!!

🤬