Editing Kea (section)

===Threats===
Together with local councils and runholders, the New Zealand government paid a bounty for kea bills because the bird preyed upon livestock, mainly sheep.<ref name="Marriner06">{{cite journal | last1 = Marriner | first1 = G. R. | year = 1906 | title = Notes on the Natural History of the Kea, with Special Reference to its Reputed Sheep-killing Propensities | url = http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_39/rsnz_39_00_000050.html | journal = Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand | volume = 39 | pages = 271–305}}</ref><ref name="Marriner07">Marriner, G. R. (1907) [http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_40/rsnz_40_00_006900.html Additional Notes on the Kea]. ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'', 40, 534–537 and Plates XXXII-XXXIV.</ref><ref name=":0" /> It was intended that hunters would kill kea only on the farms and council areas that paid the bounty, but some hunted them in national parks and in [[Westland District|Westland]], where they were officially protected. More than 150,000 were killed in the hundred years before 1970, when the bounty was lifted.<ref name="Temple96">Temple, P. (1996) ''The Book of the Kea''. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett. ({{ISBN|0-340-600039}})</ref>

A study of kea numbers in [[Nelson Lakes National Park]] showed a substantial decline in the population between 1999 and 2009, caused primarily by predation of kea eggs and chicks.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_1753188">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/1753188 |title=Possums take toll on kea at Nelson Lakes |author=Bloomberg, Simon |date=21 February 2009 |work=[[The Nelson Mail]] |access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref> Video cameras set up to monitor kea nests in South Westland showed that [[Common brushtail possum in New Zealand|possums]] killed kea fledglings.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4360809/Nest-cameras-catch-attacks-on-keas|title=Nest cameras catch attacks on keas|date=18 November 2010|work=[[Fairfax New Zealand]]|publisher=NZPA|access-date=18 November 2010}}</ref>

[[Lead poisoning]], mostly from the roofs of buildings/building materials, is also a significant cause of premature deaths among kea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lead Poisoning |publisher=Kea Conservation Trust |url=http://www.keaconservation.co.nz/keaendangeredspecies/keawildpopulation/lead-poisoning.html |access-date=8 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901085451/http://www.keaconservation.co.nz/keaendangeredspecies/keawildpopulation/lead-poisoning.html |archive-date= 1 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="DOC_TSOP9">{{cite web |title=Kea (Nestor notabilis) Captive Management Plan and Husbandry Manual |author=McLelland, J.M.| url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/TSOP09.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/TSOP09.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] |work=Threatened Species Occasional Publication No. 9 |date = April 1996|access-date=8 October 2011|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Research on lead toxicity in kea living at [[Aoraki / Mount Cook]] found that of 38&nbsp;live kea tested, all were found to have detectable blood lead levels, with 26 considered dangerously high.<ref name="DOC_TSOP9"/> Additional analysis of 15&nbsp;dead kea sent to [[Massey University]] for diagnostic pathology between 1991 and 1997 found that nine bodies had lead blood levels consistent with causing death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lead exposure in free-ranging Kea (Nestor Notabilis), Takahe (Porphyrio Hochstetteri) and Australasian Harriers (Circus Approximans) in New Zealand |author=Youl, Jennifer |publisher=[[Massey University]] |url=http://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/1031/01front.pdf?sequence=2 |year=2009 |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425191549/http://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/1031/01front.pdf?sequence=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Research conducted by Victoria University in 2008 confirmed that the natural curiosity of kea, which has enabled the species to adapt to its extreme environment, may increase its propensity to poisoning through ingestion of lead – i.e. the more investigative behaviours identified in a bird, the higher its blood lead levels were likely to be.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_2354964">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2354964/Curiosity-kills-the-kea-study-shows |title=Curiosity kills the kea, study shows |date=22 April 2009 |work=[[The Dominion Post (Wellington)|The Dominion Post]] |access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref>

The pesticide [[1080 usage in New Zealand|1080]] is used to control invasive [[Pest (organism)|pest]] mammals such as [[stoat]]s and [[common brushtail possum|possums]] and has also been implicated in kea deaths. For example, seven kea were found dead following an aerial possum control operation using 1080 at [[Fox Glacier]] in July 2008,<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_555051">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/555051/DOC-reviews-1080-use-after-endangered-kea-die |title=DOC reviews 1080 use after endangered kea die |date=30 July 2008 |work=[[The Dominion Post (Wellington)|The Dominion Post]] |access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref> and a further seven were found dead in August 2011, following a 1080 aerial possum control operation in [[Ōkārito Lagoon|Ōkārito Forest]].<ref name="ODT_177187">{{cite news |url=http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/177187/seven-keas-dead-wake-1080-work |title=Seven keas dead in wake of 1080 work |date=12 September 2011 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref> Traps are also considered a risk to kea. In September 2011, hidden cameras caught kea breaking into baited stoat traps in the [[Matukituki River|Matukituki Valley]]. More than 75% of the traps had been sprung.<ref name="ODT_178504">{{cite news |url=http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/wanaka/178504/kea-gangs-breaking-doc-predator-control-traps |title=Kea 'gangs' breaking into Doc predator control traps |author=Ibbotson, Lucy |date=20 September 2011 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref>