farmers, who placed a bounty on the birds, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 150,000 keas. The birds’ investigative tendencies in ski fields, parking lots, and rubbish dumps often endanger the remaining 1,000 to 5,000 individuals. One kea in the alpine village of Mount Cook ran into trouble on account of his skill at opening the lids of trash cans. He was found dead with 20 grams of dark liquid material in his crop. The cause of death? “Methylxanthine toxicity after opportunistic ingestion of dark chocolate.”
