They were never particularly common, and like many other large
New Zealand endemic species they were subject to hunting pressures from the settling
Polynesians, as well as predation upon their eggs and hatchlings by
kiore, or the Polynesian rat (which accompanied the settlers) and the settlers' dogs, and were extinct before the arrival of
European settlers. The
Māori name of the North Island goose (
C. gracilis) was "tarepo". ==References==