When Taylor Swift comes to town, people generally get excited, but some New Zealand conservationists weren't thrilled with Swift and her video crew camping out on a local beach this week to shoot.
The Waitakere Ranges Local Board publicly accused Swift of potentially harming an endangered bird's habitat in the process. Bethells Beach, outside Auckland, is home to the rare dotterel and restricts vehicle use to preserve the bird's nesting sites. Swift's film crew got the green light to shoot at Bethells but brought a small fleet of vans and vehicles with them.
"It's really disappointing that such a large number of vehicles would park all over the beach and drive all over the beach," Waitakere Ranges Local Board chairwoman Sandra Coney told Radio New Zealand on Thursday.
But Swift wasn't personally responsible for those production logistics, according to the local production company in charge of the video shoot.
"We accept responsibility and apologize for this situation," Cherokee Films said in a statement to AFP. "Taylor Swift and her management team were in no way at fault and did not do anything that violated permits or ordinances."
The production company also stressed no dotterels or nests were harmed during the shoot and will also pay it forward to help ensure species preservation.
"In acknowledgement of the concern this has added to those in charge of protecting local Dotterel population Cherokee Films will make a donation to the breeding program as we support your concerns," the statement released to AFP announced.
No word at this time of the name of the song for which she was shooting the video.
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