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Prior to human settlement in New Zealand there may have been 12 million Kiwi. Before the coming of the Maori, the kiwi had no predators.
The Maori hunted the birds at night with the aid of dogs and torches.
The skins and feathers were made up into cloaks which were highly prized. The cloaks are worn at important events, such as funerals or mariages, and show that the person wearing it is a chief or other very important person. The Maori believed that the Kiwi was under special protection of the god Tane, and they called it Te manu a Tane - the bird that Tane hid.
When the first Europeans arrived in New Zealand and returned to Europe with tales of this strange bird they were not believed and many people thought the kiwi was a hoax. When live ones were taken to Europe they were greatly sought after.During the later part of last century, many thousands of kiwis were captured by Europeans for zoos, museums and private collections.

The Maori Legend:

Why Kiwi lives on the forest floor

One day the king of the forest, Tanemahuta, was walking through the forest. He looked at his trees and noticed that they looked sick. They were being eaten by the bugs that lived on the forest floor. Tanemahuta told his brother Tanehokahoka (King of the sky) what had happened to his children the trees.
Tanehokahoka wanted to help his brother so he called all the birds together for a meeting. Tanemahuta said to them all
“The ground bugs are eating the trees. I need one of you to give up your life in the sky and come and live on the forest floor so the trees will be saved. Who will come?
Tanemahuta and Tanehokahoka waited and listened – but everything was quiet, and not a single bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Tui.
“Tui, will you come down from the forest roof?”
Tui said “Oh no Tanehokahoka –it is too dark and I am afraid of the dark.”
So then Tanehokahoka turned to Pukeko. “Pukeko, will you come down from the forest roof?”
Pukeko said "Oh no the ground is too wet and I don't like getting my feet wet." 
Tanehokahoka then turned to Pipiwharauroa and asked “Pipiwharauroa, will you come down from the forest roof?”
Pipiwharauroa said "No I am too busy building a nest for my family”
Tanehokahoka knew that if one of the birds did not come down from the forest roof, not only would all the trees die, but the birds would have nowhere to live.
As a last attempt Tanehokahoka turned to Kiwi and said “Please, will you come down from the skies and save the trees?” Kiwi looked around and saw his family. Kiwi then looked at the cold damp earth and turned to Tanehokahoka and said “yes.”
Tanehokahoka and Tanemahuta were very happy because this little bird would save the trees. Tanemahuta said “Kiwi do you realise that if you do this, you will have to grow strong legs and loose your beautiful wings and colourful feathers so you blend in with the colour of the forest floor. You will not be able to return to the forest roof and will never see the light of day again.”
Kiwi took one last long look at the sun and whispered a quiet “goodbye.”
Tanehokahoka turned to the other birds and said “Tui, because you were too scared to come down – from now on you will wear two white feathers at your throat as the mark of a coward.”
“Pukeko, because you didn’t want to get your feet wet – you will now spend the rest of your days in the swamp”
“Pipiwharauroa, because you were too busy building a nest for your family – you will never build another nest again. Instead, you will have to lay your eggs in other birds nests.”

“But you Kiwi – because of your sacrifice, you will become the most well known and loved bird of them all.”

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Maori Legends