From our hotly contested Bird of the Year competition, to the constant updates from backyard bird watchers during lockdown, it’s safe to say New Zealand is a nation of avian obsessives. It’s hardly surprising given our history. This small island nation has been shaped by bird life like no other, with endemic species part of […]
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New Zealand bans swimming with bottlenose dolphins after numbers plunge
The New Zealand government has banned tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in an attempt to save the struggling species. According to the department of conservation [DoC] research has shown that humans were “loving the dolphins too much” and human interaction was “having a significant impact on the population’s resting and feeding behaviour”. The ban […]
New Zealand Bans Swimming With Dolphins in Bay of Islands Region After Population Decline
Swimming with dolphins in the open ocean might seem like a much better activity to pay for and support than swimming with dolphins in captivity, but the truth is that either way, dolphins are negatively affected. Many people don’t realize that swimming with dolphins in the ocean disrupts their routine and causes changes in their […]
‘Something fishy’: penguins detained by New Zealand police after sushi shop stakeout
“Waddling vagrants” in the form of two little blue penguins have been released by police after they were detained for setting up home under a Wellington sushi outlet. Their cover was blown after a shop worker heard them making a cooing, humming sound. It is understood that the penguins were hiding near the grills beneath […]
“Part of something bigger”: the social movement around New Zealand’s Predator-Free 2050 goal
In Whāingaroa/Raglan on New Zealand’s (NZ’s) west coast, trapping for introduced mammals that prey on endangered native birds is something of a competitive sport. Karioi Project, a local conservation NGO named after the bushclad volcano that backs the small surf town and houses a significant population of endemic oi (grey-faced petrels, Pterodroma gouldi), has established […]
What makes a forest healthy? Māori knowledge has some answers.
RUATĀHUNA, New Zealand — In certain seasons, the forest used to look like a bride, recalled Māori elders in Ruatāhuna: vibrant, healthy, and clothed in all its glory. These days, they agreed, it looks more like an old lady, ragged and tired. There’s a feeling of loneliness there now, too, as if the forest is […]
Video – Over 140 whales die after becoming stranded on New Zealand beach
As many as 145 whales have died after being found stranded on a remote beach in New Zealand, conservation officials said Monday. Two pods of pilot whales were discovered just over a mile apart on Mason Bay, Stewart Island, a sparsely populated island in the country’s south. Authorities were first alerted to the mass stranding […]
‘Mate, what just happened?’ Seal slaps kayaker in face with octopus
A kayaker paddling in the waters around New Zealand has been given an unusually close look at its marine life when a seal appeared to throw an octopus at him. Kyle Mulinder was enjoying a clear day on waters off the coast of Kaikōura in the South Island when he was slapped in the face […]