Endemic to New Zealand, this sweet little bird is called the tūturiwhatu, or New Zealand dotterel, and though endangered, it has found a unique sanctuary where it can nest and feed in relative peace. Relative, because it comes with a significant amount of noise pollution. It’s the Auckland Airport, and 4 pairs of dotterel have […]
Tag: new zealand
Home invasions and roadblocks: New Zealand on alert as ‘seal silly season’ begins
Sunbathing on roads, breaking through catflaps, visiting film sets, invading homes and taking in the heat of backyard spa bath covers – New Zealand’s “seal silly season” has officially begun and the country is bracing for an influx of adolescent marine mammals exploring the country’s highways, patios and golf courses. This week, the government issued […]
New Zealand fights to save its flightless national bird
New Zealand’s treasured kiwi birds are shuffling around Wellington’s verdant hills for the first time in a century, after a drive to eliminate invasive predators from the capital’s surrounds. Visitors to New Zealand a millennium ago would have encountered a bona fide “birdtopia”—islands teeming with feathered creatures fluttering through life unaware that mammalian predators existed. […]
New Zealand’s Dolphins Risk Extinction If Action Is Not Taken Soon
Hector’s dolphins are the smallest dolphin species in the world, and only around 10,000 them remain alive in the wild, off the shores of the South Island of New Zealand, NOAA reports. These dolphins stick to a territorial range of just over 32 miles, rarely venturing away from home, according to Akaroa Dolphins. Within the […]
New Zealand bird of the year contest bars world’s fattest parrot from running
New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition could usher in another round of controversy, with perennial favourite the kākāpō struck from the ballot after twice winning the competition. The fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot is the only species to reign twice as New Zealand’s favourite bird, in 2020 and 2008. This year, however, it […]
Antarctic researchers gain insights from on high as they count seals from space
Researchers believe they have accurately estimated Antarctica’s Weddell seal population for the first time – using images from space and the eyes of hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists. Weddell seals are a key indicator species in the Southern Ocean, for both sea ice fluctuations and shifts in the food web. They can live up […]
Young Seal Accidentally Breaks Into The House Of A Marine Biologist In New Zealand
What would you do if you go home one day and suddenly saw a pup that you don’t recall ever having adopted? Cute, if you think about it, I mean who doesn’t love puppies? But the pup I’m talking about is not the kind you’re probably thinking about right now; it’s actually an ocean puppy– […]