Hector's Dolphin's Urgently Need Your Help!

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Dear Donor

New Zealand is home to the world’s rarest marine dolphin species, the Hector’s dolphin and the even rarer North Island Maui’s dolphin subspecies.

Sadly we are in danger of being the first country in the world to knowingly allow a marine dolphin to become extinct because so many are caught and drowned in commercial and recreational set nets.

Already this year another Hector’s dolphin has been found drowned in a recreational set net on the West Coast, just weeks after weak interim protection measures were introduced by the Government.

Hector’s dolphins will continue to drown in set nets unless these invisible death traps are outlawed. They are already banned or heavily restricted in many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. A national ban is urgently needed here in New Zealand.

The Hector’s dolphin population has been declining for years – down from an estimated 26,000 in the 1970s to just 7,000 today. Between 1995 and 2005, 41 South Island Hector’s dolphins were reported entangled and drowned in West Coast set nets alone. Many more go unreported around the country.

The death toll is a continuing concern for the survival of the species, especially because of their slow rate of reproduction. The South Island Hector’s dolphin is listed as endangered on the global “Red List” of species threatened with extinction. The North Island Maui’s dolphin numbers an estimated 111 individuals and is listed as critically endangered by the Department of Conservation.

Please will you donate to Forest & Bird’s Hector’s dolphin appeal?

Thank you for your support.

Dr Peter Maddison
Forest & Bird National President

Your donation will help Forest & Bird take action by:

Campaigning for better protection of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins through a national set net ban.
Advocating for the species in relation to the Threat Management Plan that Government is developing this year.
Producing comprehensive proposals for the establishment of new marine mammal sanctuaries.

Over the past year your support has enabled Forest & Bird to help achieve the following conservation successes

Kupe/Kevin Smith Marine Reserve on Wellington’s south coast, announced in December 2006.
Legal protection for great white sharks in New Zealand waters, announced in November 2006.
Rules requiring longline fishing vessels to set their hooks at night to reduce albatross bycatch, announced in January 2007.
20,000 signatures gathered on the Save Our Sealions petition in 2006 urging the Government to reduce the number of New Zealand sealions killed in squid trawl nets.
Ruataniwha Conservation Park opened in the South Island high country near Twizel in July 2006.
Manawatu Estuary officially recognised as a wetland of global importance at a ceremony in October 2006.

Hector's Dolphin images by the Department of Conservation

Don't delay - please help Hector's dolphins

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