Discarded fish hooks and lines have led to a spike in injured birds turning up at Wellington Zoo.
The Nest Te Kōhanga has had nine native birds come through its doors since July last year. Only two of them have survived.
“Seven of them had to be euthanised because their injuries were far too severe," vet Phil Kowalski told 1 NEWS.
"They can ingest exceptionally large hooks which can cause a huge amount of damage, and then tangling themselves in line as well can cause restriction injuries or lacerations."
Last year the clinic saw 12 birds in total.
Over the past seven months, it had seen pied shags or red-billed gulls – both native to New Zealand.
"It’s upsetting because despite them looking common, red-billed gulls are in decline nationally," Kowalski says.
Two gulls are still being treated at the facility but both are on track to fully recover.
One had swallowed a fish hook and got its wing tangled up in fishing line.
Ghost Diving New Zealand founder Rob Wilson said his team find a lot of animals trapped in fishing gear during their waterways clean ups.
Recently the divers came across a pied shag that had drowned after getting its wing caught.
“It’d entrapped its wing, tried to resurface and drowned. It is tragic,” Wilson says.
Wellington’s coastline is littered with discarded fishing equipment and rubbish, which can either trap seabirds or end up in their stomachs.
Fisheries New Zealand told 1 NEWS recreational fishers should ensure nothing is left behind and report any accidental captures of protected species.
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