Kagu pigs and dogs. New Caledonia lacked mammals (except for bats) before the arrival of humans, and many of its native species have been negatively affected by introduced mammals. Rats have a big impact on nestlings, accounting for 55% of nestling losses. Kagus also suffer from habitat loss caused by mining and forestry. Concern was first raised about the future of the kagu in 1904. The first concrete evidence of the impact of dogs came when a New Zealand researcher's study population was quickly exterminated by dogs in the 1990s, although suspicions about the importance of dogs and other predators had
Kagu areas where soil levels of heavy metals were low laid more eggs and had higher numbers of fledglings, as well as having smaller home-ranges and higher body mass, than Kagu in areas where the soil was heavy-metal rich. It has therefor been suggested that Kagu conservation is likely to be more effective in areas where heavy-metal levels in the soil are low. The kagu had an important role in the traditional lives of the Kanak tribes of New Caledonia. Among the tribes found in the vicinity of Hienghène in the north of Grande Terre, its name was given to people,