Defiant Hikers Are Killing New Zealand’s Treasured Kauri Trees
Park rangers in Auckland, New Zealand, are attempting to save the native kauri tree from extinction, but their efforts are being thwarted by local hikers. The trees are suffering from a deadly fungal disease called kauri dieback — which can spread by the transmission of soil from hikers’ boots — and in an effort to preserve them, hiking trails in regional parks around Auckland have been closed. Keeping tourists out, however, has proven difficult.