An image of a healthy red-billed gull, alongside an image of two emaciated seagulls in Kaikōura; one significantly smaller than the other due to a lack of food. Photo: Sabrina Luecht
They're the squawking, chip stealing, icon of New Zealand beaches, but environmentalists say the red-billed gull is in trouble.
There has been a sharp decline in their numbers over the past three decades with two of the three biggest colonies - on the Three Kings Islands and Mokohinau Islands - reducing in numbers by more than 80%. And of particular concern now, is the largest remaining colony, on Kaikōura Peninsula.
Sabrina Luecht from Kaikōura Wildlife Centre Trust says she's finding dead gulls so emaciated, they're half the size they should be.
And she warns the colony could vanish within the next 10 years, as its population ages - the birds not strong enough to breed, or outrun predators.
Under the NZ Threat Classification System, red-billed seagulls are considered 'at risk - declining'.
