Dillon

Dillon was banded along with a large group of kea in Arthur's Pass in mid September 2021. He was a fledgling at the time of banding. Sadly, this kea was found dead on July 3rd 2022. He was hit by a car in the road in Arthur's Pass village. Dillon was one of three young kea found dead in Arthur's Pass Village in within the space of three weeks during June/July 2022. Chickpea and Kuschla have also been hit by cars in the village this month. In the last two years, at least 12 kea have been found dead on the road around Arthur’s Pass village. The speed limit through the village is currently 50kph (July 2022) but motorists often drove through faster. There are multiple factors however, that contribute to kea's susceptibility to being hit by vehicles including being fed by humans, being too curious and having high levels of lead in their system which causes slow response times and neurological damage.