TAYLOR SWIFT has upset conservationists in New Zealand while filming her latest music video on a beach in Auckland. Officials state that the star was given permission to film in the location, using only two vehicles on the sand and instead brought a dozen vans and four-wheel drives, reports The Daily Telegraph, therefore endangering the rare small wading dotterels that use the stretch of shoreline as breeding ground.
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"It's really disappointing that such a large number of vehicles would park all over the beach and drive all over the beach," said Sandra Coney of the Waitakere Ranges Local Board, whose website explains that because the birds are so small and hard to see, they can easily be crushed by impact. "We are trying to minimise vehicles on beaches for good reasons. Taylor's lot did not respect the environment or the conditions of their consent."
The beach is a popular location for filming. Oscar-winning film The Piano was filmed there in 1993, while just last year Samsung filmed a Mad-Max style advertisement. The production company that was producing Swift's short, Cherokee Films, responded to Coney's claims, stating that they used the area respectfully and legitimately.
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"No dotterel were harmed. Taylor Swift and her management team were in no way at fault and did not do anything that violated permits or ordinances. Cherokee Films has a long history of responsible film shoots across Auckland, including Bethells Beach, where we have filmed many times."
It has, however, assured officials that "in acknowledgment of the concern this has added to those in charge of protecting local dotterel population Cherokee Films will make donation to the breeding programme."
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