Watch: When the cat met the kiwi

Stay very ... very ... still.

That was the instant reaction of a kiwi when it unexpectedly stumbled upon a wild cat that had managed to evade traps on an offshore island sanctuary.

The same team from Massey University's Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Programme that recently captured remarkable footage of two male kiwi having a testosterone-fuelled scrap have now caught this chance encounter between a tagged kiwi and the feline predator.

Hidden cameras show the cat chowing down on an unseen snack when it spots the endangered bird bound into the clearing it's in.

The kiwi immediately freezes - perhaps terrified it's about to become cat food - before beating a hasty retreat.

All the while, the cat appears uninterested in the kiwi's presence and continues munching.

The Massey programme monitors around 50 kiwi, which are tracked by transmitters attached to them, as well as cats, which along with stoats, dogs, ferrets, possums and pigs, pose a large threat to our critically endangered national bird.

Last year, the Department of Conservation warned that the kiwi could become extinct within our grandchildren's lifetime.

Wild kiwi numbers were falling by 2 per cent each year and, at this rate, the bird could be wiped out on the mainland within the next generation.

This year's Budget included a special $11 million allocation for kiwi conservation, with an aim to turn the 2 per cent decline into an annual increase as soon as possible.