The rugged topography and harsh climate of the high altitude alpine part of its habitat render it inhospitable to a number of introduced mammalian predators, which include dogs, ferrets, cats, and stoats.

Nonetheless, there has been a 43% decline in population in the past 45 years, due to these predators and habitat destruction.

[4] Kiwi are placed in the ratite family, which also includes the emu, ostrich, rhea,[7] and cassowary, as well as the extinct moa of New Zealand and elephant birds of Madagascar.

Additionally, kiwi are more closely related to emus and cassowaries than to moa; the latter are actually closest to the weakly flying tinamous of South America.

[9] A. haastii A. owenii A. australis A. rowi A. mantelli Relationships in the genus Apteryx[6] Before the great spotted kiwi was known to science, several stories circulated about the existence of a large kiwi called the Maori roaroa.

[10] The great spotted kiwi was first described as Apteryx haastii by Thomas Potts, in 1872, based on a specimen from Westland, New Zealand,[3] and changed to the resurrected A. maxima Sclater & Hochstetter 1861 in 2024.

[3] The body is pear-shaped, while the head and neck is small with a long slender ivory bill.

[21] Great spotted kiwis reside in complex, maze-like burrows that they construct.

Vocalisations of the great spotted kiwi include growls, hisses, and bill snapping.

[15][24] Great spotted kiwis are monogamous,[18] with pairings sometimes lasting twenty years.

The breeding season begins in June and ends in March, as this is when food is plentiful.

Males reach sexual maturity at 18 months in captivity, while females are able to lay eggs after three years.

Females do not eat during this period, as the eggs will take up a fourth of a kiwi's body mass.

To relieve the pain, females soak themselves in water when they come out of the burrows by dipping their abdomens into puddles.

[30] Because adult great spotted kiwis are large and powerful, they are able to fend off most predators that attack them, such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, pigs, brush possums and cats, all of which are invasive species in New Zealand.

[25] The great spotted kiwi is the sole host of a species of feather mite, Kiwialges haastii, described in 1985.

[31] The great spotted kiwi population started declining when European settlers first arrived in New Zealand.

[18] This bird is often preyed upon by invasive pigs, dogs, ferrets and stoats, leading to a 5% chick survival rate.

[24] It has more of an advantage than other kiwi species over these predators because it lives in high altitude areas, where the wet upland population thrives.

[32] Humans have also endangered the species by destroying their habitat by logging forests and building mines.

This kiwi has an occurrence range of 8,500 km2 (3,300 sq mi), and in 2000 an estimated 22,000 adult birds remained.

[15] The main threat is from invasive predators including mustelids, brush-tailed possum Trichosurus vulpecula, feral cats, dogs and pigs[1][15] The most threatened populations are in the southern areas of the species' range.

[25] Thanks to intensive trapping and poisoning efforts the chick survival rate has been raised to about 60% in areas where mammalian pest control is undertaken.