An Antarctic penguin has traversed 3,000km of icy waters to find himself far from home and on new and puzzling shores: the south-eastern coastline of New Zealand. The Adélie penguin in question, affectionately named “Pingu” by locals, was spotted looking somewhat lost at Birdlings Flat, a small settlement on New Zealand’s South Island. It’s only […]
Tag: new zealand
Once a global conservation success story, New Zealand’s black robin in trouble again
Forty years ago, on a remote rocky island in the Pacific, 800km east of New Zealand, a conservationist set out to bring the rarest bird in the world back from the brink of extinction. Don Merton, wearing a check shirt and shorts, climbed 200 metres up the rockface of Little Mangere Island, part of the […]
Hear be kiwis: New Zealand celebrates as distinctive cry of iconic bird returns
It’s a frigid, early-winter night, and across the forests and farmlands of Northland, people are crouching in the dark. They’ve timed this night for the waning moon, so moonlight doesn’t disturb any visitors. Scattered through the night, they sit, silently, and listen. The sound they’re all hoping for is a high-pitched, piercing cry, or guttural […]
Race To Find Beached Baby Orca’s Mother In New Zealand
Wildlife rescuers in New Zealand were scrambling to keep a stranded baby orca alive Wednesday, as volunteers scoured waters off Wellington to find the calf’s mother. The killer whale, a male aged four to six months, washed ashore on rocks just north of the capital on Sunday and was refloated by wildlife officers after distressed […]
New Zealand Closes Down Road to Help Sea Lion Take Care of Her Pup
Dunedin, New Zealand has some new traffic changes. The Dunedin City Council announced they would be closing down a segment of the road to help protect a sea lion and her new pup, according to PEOPLE. “We’ve closed John Wilson Ocean Drive to vehicles for the next month to allow some special residents to use […]
Captive breeding helps New Zealand’s threatened black stilts take flight
A group of students and parents huddled behind a row of wooden boxes in New Zealand’s Godley Valley on the country’s South Island. The box doors were flung open, and birds with fluffy white bellies and long, pointy bills flapped their black wings, chirping as they took off into the crisp winter air. This month, […]
Māori push for pandemic stimulus spend to save Raukūmara Forest
Two Māoriiwi, or tribal groups, are campaigning for a portion of the New Zealand government’s new COVID-19 economic stimulus package to help save their treasured, ancestral Raukūmara Forest from being overrun by introduced pests. The Raukūmaras stretch across around 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of national park and private land along the North Island’s East Cape. […]
Ban Cruel Duck Shooting in New Zealand and Protect Native Ducks
Fish & Game New Zealand fervently defend the “sport” of duck shooting for which the season just began in late May (it was pushed back from March due to COVID-19 restrictions). However, organizations are concerned about New Zealand’s native bird species. Animal rights organization SAFE says the sport is “inherently cruel” and should be banned. […]