Conservation group NABU International has presented a petition calling for full protection of Maui's dolphins to the New Zealand High Commission in London.
A Maui's dolphin. Photo: DoC
NABU representative and expert on the dolphin Liz Slooten handed the petition to Deputy High Commissioner Rob Taylor on Friday.
Some 156,000 people have signed the petition which urges the Government to implement advice on commercial fishing restrictions which might help protect the rare species of mammal.
That includes banning gillnetting and trawling to a water depth of 100 metres throughout the dolphins' habitat.
NABU International chief executive Thomas Tennhardt said the numbers of Maui's dolphins had fallen by more than 97 percent to just 50, and without intervention, they would become extinct.
