Meet New Zealand’s feathered and flippered friends

Imagine a land that was the last country on earth to be settled by humans.

A land, made from fragments of the super continent of Gondwana, that through 80 million years of isolation has witnessed the evolution of species so distinctive that scientists have described it as the closest you can get to studying life on another planet.

New Zealand's thick, green forests and rugged coastlines are home to an array of endemic wildlife, most of which cannot be found anywhere else on earth. To ensure the preservation of New Zealand’s native species, there is a growing number of conservation initiatives aimed at ensuring a future for the country’s unique wildlife.

A visit to New Zealand presents ample opportunities to meet some of the country’s most unique and endangered animals - whether it is on a predator-free island sanctuary, a national park, or a natural enclosure in the heart of the city.

The poster boy for kakapo survival

Some New Zealand birds are born entertainers. Some, however, earn the spotlight as advocates for the preservation of their species. Such is the case with Sirocco, the poster bird of the Department of Conservation’s Kakapo Recovery Programme.

The kakapo is a native New Zealand parrot - the largest parrot species in the world. The bird thrived in the years before humans set foot on the isolated South Pacific land mass but, like so many of New Zealand’s other native wildlife species, the kakapo was decimated by the introduction of predators including stoats, weasels and rats.

Earlybird special offers rare kakapo encounter - click for more.

Sirocco - rare kakapo parrot

More about this image

By 1995, kakapo numbers had plummeted to 50 survivors spread throughout a number of isolated sanctuaries. Today, with a world population of 124 and a comprehensive Kakapo Recovery Programme underway, the kakapo is on its first tentative steps to recovery.

Sirocco is one of the Kakapo Recovery Programme’s successes - although his own existence was not always certain. He contracted a respiratory virus as a three-week-old chick and was removed from the care of his mother, Zephyr, for treatment. The treatment was successful but, as he was hand raised in the absence of other kakapo, he became imprinted by his human carers. As a result, Sirocco now plays a crucial role in raising the profile of his endangered species.

Sirocco recently attracted the attention of British celebrities Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine. The pair were in New Zealand filming an endangered wildlife series based on the 1991 bestseller Last Chance to See.

"There was one kakapo we met on many occasions called Sirocco," Carwardine recently told the UK’s Wanderlust Magazine. "Basically, he thinks he’s a person, he doesn’t realise he’s a kakapo...he climbs up you, and one day he climbed up to my head and tried to mate!"

Down to the last robin

But the kakapo was not the only endangered New Zealand resident Fry and Carwardine came to see.

Chatham Island Black Robin

More about this image

"I think the most inspiring story though was the Chatham Island robin," Carwardine told Wanderlust. "Because it went down to one female called Old Blue, and she had eggs inside her. She laid the eggs and they were able to protect them, and use other birds as foster parents. She basically saved the species from extinction."

"That one bird was the mother of an entire species," added Fry. "We went to see them. I must admit that I was a bit grumpy about going there...then we tramp until we see this little black bird - a perky little robin. And it takes all the bad feelings away and you think, ‘My God, does it know how rare it is?’"

Discover New Zealand’s Small Five

The BBC series Last Chance to See has put a spotlight on New Zealand’s most endangered wildlife. Although the kakapo and Chatham Island robin may not be easily accessible for public viewing, New Zealand is home to a host of other fascinating creatures that can be seen all over the country.

We’ve come up with New Zealand’s ‘Small Five’ highlights some of the country’s most iconic wildlife. The phrase ‘Big Five’ was coined by big-game hunters in Africa referring to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.

New Zealand offers a new twist on the expression with its own endemic ‘Small Five’, which includes the kiwi, Hector’s dolphin, yellow-eyed penguin, tuatara and kea.

The Kiwi, a nocturnal flightless bird and New Zealand's most famous national symbol

More about this image

Download high res

1) Kiwi
The kiwi is New Zealand’s icon. There are five species of this nocturnal flightless bird in New Zealand. With hair-like feathers, long whiskers and nostrils at the end of its bill, the kiwi wanders the forest floor to sniff out and probe for insects, worms and grubs. The best place to see kiwi is on the isolated, windswept beach of Mason Bay on Stewart Island.

2) Hector’s dolphin
At approximately 1.4 metres in length, the Hector’s dolphin is one of the world’s smallest cetaceans and the world’s rarest marine dolphin. The species is named after Sir James Hector at the Museum of New Zealand who examined the first specimen found of the dolphin in the 19th century. Hector’s dolphins are found off the coast of the South Island and the best way to spot them is to take a tour around Akaroa Harbour on Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch. Or take a walk on the aptly-named Porpoise Bay on the remote Catlins Coast in Southland, where they can be seen very close to shore.

Hoiho on the Otago Peninsula

More about this image

3) Yellow-eyed penguin
The yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho in Maori, and its small cousin, the blue penguin, both get the cute vote from visitors far and wide. As they strut with dignified formality from the sea to their nests on the shoreline, their comical seriousness makes it impossible not to smile. Coastal Otago is the place to enjoy an encounter of the penguin kind.

4) Tuatara
The tuatara is a unique relic of the past — the only beak-headed reptile left in the world. Every species of this reptile family, except the tuatara, died out around 65 million years ago.

New Zealand tuatara - a living dinosaur

More about this image

Tuatara can live for over 100 years, and were once found throughout New Zealand. Now they are only found in the wild on protected offshore islands - around 30,000 live on Stephens Island in the Marlborough Sounds. You can still view tuatara on the mainland at a number of locations including ZEALANDIA: The Karori Sanctuary Experience in Wellington and Invercargill's Southland Museum. While they are often referred to as "living fossils" from the dinosaur era, tuatara only grow to 24cm in length and are not a threat to humans.

5) Kea
The cheeky kea is a species of parrot found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island. They are widely regarded as the most intelligent species in the bird world. Kea are renowned for their curiosity, which not uncommonly result in tales of them carrying away unguarded items such as sandwiches, fruit and even passports!

Best of the rest

If you’ve been lucky enough to encounter all of the Small Five, there are countless other wildlife experiences to be had, here are just a few of them:

More rare birds
The morepork is New Zealand’s native owl and it’s night call fills the forest air. The name morepork and its Maori name, ruru, both stem from the bird’s distinctive double-whistle call.

New Zealand is also home to the only mainland breeding colony of royal albatross in the world. The first chick reared in this colony flew in 1938; today the colony, located on the Otago Peninsula, has a population of around 140 birds. The sight of a soaring albatross is unforgettable. These birds have a wingspan of up to three metres and swooping speeds of more than 115kph.

Other exceptionally rare birds include the huge, grass-grazing takahe, stitchbird, saddleback, and kokako (both wattlebirds). Breeding pairs of these birds have been transferred to various offshore island sanctuaries to build up new populations.

Marine life
New Zealand also has abundant and diverse marine life, including numerous species of whales and dolphins. Almost half the world’s approximately 80 species of cetaceans are found in New Zealand’s waters. New Zealand has the fourth largest marine territory in the world, our waters are rich with foods that these mammals need, and it is on the migratory path of the largest whales. One of the most highly visible species is the sperm whale. The best way to see these magnificent mammals is on a boat excursion in Kaikoura, on the east coast of the South Island.

Creepy crawlies

Middle Island Tusked Weta

More about this image

New Zealand’s native insects, such as the giant weta, are also incredibly rare. The Middle Island tusked weta (Motuweta isolata) is the most endangered of its species. It was discovered on Middle Mercury Island by a government scientist in 1970. The 13 hectare island is in the Mercury group off the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula and, while it has no introduced predators, it is ecologically fragile.