Every time a kiwi is killed on a road in the Russell area of Northland, a white cross is erected.
Since September last year more than ten have been put up, according to Russell Landcare trustee and technical advisor Nik Minchin.
He expects that number to climb.
"It's just frustration, you just keep thinking of what else you can do."
He wants people to stay vigilant on the Russell Peninsula's roads, where he said 10-20 kiwi are hit and killed each year.
A few signs urging people to slow down were put up in the past, but have been largely ineffective, he said.
It is hoped the kiwi crosses, provided by Northland conservation organisation Kiwi Coast, would be more impactful. Minchin said they "make it real".
"It wasn't until we started putting out – just last year – the white crosses that we really had a lot of feedback going, 'Oh, a kiwi was just killed this weekend?'"
The community conservation group has been doing kiwi call counts along the Russell Peninsula since 2005. Back then, there were an estimated 500 individuals. After the latest count in 2024-25, the estimated population hit 2500 – increasing at a rate of roughly 10% each year.
DOC North North Island operations manager Brony Hunt credited the population boom, especially of the Northland brown kiwi, to conservation efforts.
The Northland brown kiwi is one of four distinct forms of the brown kiwi, which are managed as distinct entities and not mixed between regions. Their population is expected to grow at about 3% per year.
This growth means kiwi sightings were no longer limited to the bush. "The population has exploded so much so that there are now regular reports of kiwi in backyards," Hunt said.
Minchin has received reports of kiwi on campgrounds, farms, wineries, and porches. One even showed up in a chicken coop. In April of last year, two kiwi were filmed fighting in broad daylight in a Bay of Islands backyard.
This spread has included the roads, Hunt said, with Northland being the region of New Zealand where most kiwi live in close proximity to people, roads and cars.
DOC has had reports, for example, that at least half a dozen kiwi are killed on the 30km stretch of road between Onerahi and Bream Head each year.
Hunt also noted that many kiwi road deaths likely go unreported, or die later from their injuries away from the spot where they were hit.
While Minchin emphasised the "slow down" message, he said there is a network in place to care for injured kiwi. One kiwi hit and severely injured at Russell’s Orongo Bay last year was treated by a Bay of Islands vet, local wildlife carers and Wildbase Hospital in Palmerston North.
The driver who hit that bird, in a submission to the trust, echoed the plea to "drive extra slow and be extra vigilant".
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