In Wellington a small group of volunteers are trying to save injured birds, many of whom are caught in lost, broken or abandoned fishing equipment.
Hayden James started Lower Hutt Kereru Rescue two years ago when he noticed a growing number of Facebook posts about Kererū injuring themselves, mostly after flying into windows.
The group has grown, with James and a group of volunteers rescuing all kinds of birds. Recently James’ focus has been on seagulls on the Petone foreshore, many injured by stray fishing hooks.
But on Monday morning the call went out for help – a pied shag was caught in a fishing net in East Harbour Regional Park.
RNZ video journalist Logan Church went along with the team to investigate.