Southland

A British zoologist who had an encounter of the mating kind with an endangered kakapo during filming for the BBC in New Zealand, has had the honour of naming one of the rare parrots.

New Zealand has a new international celebrity – parrot pin up boy Sirocco the kakapo has shot to stardom after his unusual mating attempt with a zoologist aired on BBC television.

Sirocco, the pin-up boy and darling of New Zealand’s high profile conservation efforts with the endangered kākāpō parrot population, is about to take off for somewhere he’s never been before – the big city.

Work on New Zealand’s national cycleway network is to get a ‘quick start’ this summer at several locations throughout the country.

New Zealand’s kākāpō recovery team has successfully returned the last four kākāpō chicks to their birthplace on Whenua Hou / Codfish Island this morning (10.07.09), marking a significant milestone for the 2009 breeding season.

An enterprising New Zealand chocolate maker has put a tongue-in-cheek spin on swine flu by producing a novel chocolate bar with a medicinal filling.

Whale watching and the study of New Zealand’s diverse marine life is a major tourist attraction and a national pastime, but come winter the recreational activity takes on a more serious note.

Usually it’s the early bird that catches the worm, but New Zealand is offering an early chance to catch the bird - with an invitation for visitors to travel to a remote destination for a rare meeting.

The population of the world’s rarest parrot – the New Zealand kakapo – has reached a record high of 125 with the 2009 breeding season being hailed the most successful since the recovery programme began.

The match schedule for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand has been announced in Auckland today (12.03.09) with 13 venues across the country chosen to host pool matches.