History

The breed is believed to have descended from an Asian domestic breed introduced to New Zealand in the early 19th century by whalers or traders.  The native Māori people of New Zealand adopted kunekune; kunekune is a Māori-language word meaning "fat and round".

By the 1980s, only an estimated 50 purebred kunekune remained. Two  wildlife-park owners started a breeding program, which encouraged recovery efforts. As of 2010, the breed no longer faced extinction, with thousands of Kune's all over the world