Note: links in archived stories may have expired due to the removal of the stories from, or changes to, the websites from which they were derived.

Highland habitat reborn 
NZ-born wildlife expert Hugh Fullerton Smith is working at the forefront of British eco-tourism as general manager of Alladale Estate. The 23,000 acre Highland property, owned by Scottish millionaire philanthropist Paul Lister, is soon to become Britain's first ecological game reserve. The Highland Council has just granted the estate a dangerous wild animal licence, meaning wild boar, elk, wolves, lynx and bears could soon be reintroduced in their natural habitat. "We already have wild boar and have fenced off 440 acres as part of a game reserve trial which scientists from Oxford University are monitoring," said Fullerton Smith in The Observer. "Eventually we need to create probably the biggest enclosed wilderness reserve in Europe and then we will hopefully reintroduce some larger carnivores such wolves and bears." Lister's supporters believe his game reserve will eventually draw around 50,000 visitors a year. 
(12 August 2007)

Brothers in farms 
NZ farmers have extended the hand of friendship to their drought-stricken counterparts in southern Australia. The New Zealanders are offering use of their holiday homes to Australian planters most affected by the drought, while Jetstar is providing 100 free return tickets across the Tasman. "Some of the stories we have heard from across the Tasman are heart wrenching, and in the true Anzac spirit, we stand ready to help," said Charlie Pedersen, president of Federated Farmers of New Zealand. "We can't give Aussie farmers what they really need - rain - but we can help some take a break from the enormous stress." 
(8 February 2007)

Defender of oceans 
A Guardian article on the uncertain future of wild fish stocks features long-time Rainbow Warrior photographer and marine biologist Dr Roger Grace. Grace has been documenting Greenpeace actions for over 30 years and is now part of the organisation's campaign to save Mediterranean fish stocks (currently the most threatened in the world.) Grace was also responsible for setting up some of the world's first no-intervention fishing reserves, in his native NZ. "In all that time [working for Greenpeace], I've never had a fisherman explain to me why they need to fish in 100 per cent of the sea," he says. "Why not have 20 per cent set aside? Fish life functions best when the ecosystem is entirely set aside. If you're forever pulling fish out on a string around the entire damned coastline there's no respite anywhere." 
(10 December 2006)

Aoraki off limits? 
Mt Cook (Aoraki) has provided yet another example of the effects of global warming, with local guides warning that visitors may no longer be able to climb its famed heights. "We had a very lean winter with very little snow and the glaciers are not in good shape," says Alpine Recreation director Gottlieb Braun-Elwert. "Climate warming is a fact. I've watched the glaciers for 30 years and there are some dramatic changes happening in NZ and overseas." The 3754m peak - NZ's highest - has become increasingly dangerous for climbers in recent years, due to thinning snow cover and unstable glaciers. 
(2 January 2006)

Moa, moa and more moa
New scientific evidence reveals that humans may not be entirely responsible for the extinction of the moa. According to research undertaken in NZ and the US, there were 3 to 12 million moa roaming the forests thousands of years before the arrival of humans, by which time the estimated moa population had dropped to a mere 159,000. This suggests that moa were already in serious decline due to an earlier and equally dramatic biological or environmental event. “We were really surprised because we had been very conservative with all the parameters we used,” said study Director Neil Gemmell of Canterbury University. “It suggests that moa were very common indeed.”
(10 November 2004)
    

Trickster wasp
Newly discovered New Zealand parasitic wasp creates a whole new insect family - Maamingidae, named after the Maori word for trickster, because it has taken so long to come to light.
(3 July 2001)

Penguins pegging out
Global warming, along with over-fishing and oil-spills, threatens penguin populations around the world says University of Otago penguin biologist Lloyd Davies. 
(28 June 2001)
           

Seeds of learning
New Zealand plant expert Doctor Warwick Harris lectures in Seattle on the Christchurch Botanical gardens.
(17 June 2001)
  

Who's a clever kea then?
The kea outscores gibbons in intelligence tests. "There was definitely learning going on," says Rachel Johnston who administered the avian IQ tests.
(18 May 2001)

Orchid can-do
Volunteers at the new International Orchid Centre in Florida will "communicate their enthusiasm for orchids and an attitude of 'Hell, if I can grow them, you can too'," says American Orchid Society director of education, Kiwi Andy Easton.
(1 March 2001) 
           

Moa simulation: the strange world of Canterbury ecology
New Zealand has more small-leaved, tangled shrubs than anywhere else in the world. Some experts think the plants evolved like this to deter the now-extinct moa from making them dinner, but Canterbury University ecologist Dave Kelly doesn’t agree. He’s planning to lop the shrubs the night before a big frost, and then watch them die of the cold to prove moa could get the better of the tangled trees.
(05 September 2000)
         

New Zealand not giving up on South Pacific whale sanctuary
A bid by New Zealand and Australia to establish an ocean sanctuary to protect whale breeding grounds failed at the International Whaling Commission Meeting in Adelaide. Despite securing two-thirds of the vote, they were blocked by the hard-lobbying Japan and Norway. NZ Minister Sandra Lee, although disappointed, is determined and says, "the fight has only just begun."
(4 July 2000)

New Zealand scientists find out more about moa
In an article in Science new evidence suggests that a huge flightless bird called the moa was extinct within a few decades after humans' first arrived at the bird's New Zealand homeland, suggesting that whole species can be wiped out more quickly than once believed.
(24 March 2000)

Rat Fish
New Zealand has been exposed as the home to the worlds ugliest fish. "My eyes, oh my eyes..."
(July 1999)
         

Kiwi hatched in US
Washington DC's Smithsonian National Zoo has successfully hatched a rare North Island Brown kiwi, their third since 1975. The Smithsonian is one of only four zoos outside New Zealand to successfully breed the national bird. Keepers had been incubating the egg for five weeks, following a month long incubation by the chick's father, carefully monitoring it for signs of pipping: the process in which the chick starts to break through the shell. The sex of the chick is still unknown and is difficult to determine by sight, but with DNA swabs scientists hope to decipher the sex in coming weeks. 
(12 March 2008)

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Bridging the gap 
On New Zealand's Chatham Islands researchers have discovered the country's oldest known bird fossils. The find represents four new seabirds dating back some 65 million years when New Zealand separated from supercontinent, Gondwana. Excavation leader Jeffrey Stilwell of Monash University in Australia said the discovery has implications for the origin of modern seabirds. "It's quite spectacular to have that many birds in one deposit," Stilwell said. "I don't know of any other site in New Zealand like it." In particular, he is hoping the new fossils can provide more evidence for land bridges between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand. 
(22 February 2008)

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NZ commits to climate change cause 
NZ will introduce a carbon trading scheme next year in a bid to cap greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost to the economy. Under the plan, every industry will be allocated an agreed level of greenhouse gas emissions. Individual businesses can then choose to reduce their emissions to the agreed levels, or buy "credits" allowing them to pollute at higher levels. NZ currently emits around 45.5 million metric tons more than its target set by the UN Kyoto Protocol. "With an emissions trading system, we will get our emissions on a sustainable downward trend into the future," said Climate Change Issues Minister David Parker. The plan is expected to shave 0.1 percent off NZ's gross domestic product growth over five years, boost gasoline prices by 4 cents per litre and raise energy prices by 5 per cent by 2010. 
(20 September 2007)

Incredible journey revealed
Massey University ecologists are conducting a groundbreaking study of the bar-tailed godwit's northern migration. While the 11,000 km southern migration of the godwit from Alaska to NZ is thought to be the longest non-stop flight by any bird, not much is known about its northern route. "We are entering a critical decade for these birds, so the research is timely and crucial," said research leader Dr Phil Battley. He points out that mapping the northern migration is particularly important because the birds touch down in Asia and are potential carriers of the H5N1 bird-flu virus to the Alaskan region. Massey researchers will monitor the godwits' journey by satellite-tagging individual birds, in a joint project with the United States Geological Survey and PRBO Conservation Science in the US. 
(31 March 2007)

Silver lining to climate change cloud 
NZ has the potential to adapt to climate change more effectively than its neighbours, according to the government and global warming experts. Despite being home to just 0.06 per cent of the world's population, NZ produces 0.2 per cent of global greenhouse gases - nearly half of which is from methane expelled by farm animals. However, because its contribution to climate change comes more from agriculture than the burning of fossil fuels, it would be cheaper for NZ to "make the transition to a future that doesn't produce emissions" than for most of the world, says Climate Change Minister David Parker. NZ is already leading the world in bio-fuel research, with waste from sewage algae and industrial processes being developed into fuel for cars and aeroplanes. Dairy Farmers of NZ chairman Frank Brenmuhl is equally optimistic about NZ's ability to adapt and innovate. He believes farmers could switch from producing meat and dairy products to growing tropical fruits such as pineapples and bananas, should temperatures rise significantly. 
(2 February 2007)

Wellington's conservation crusader 
Pioneering research by Victoria University conservation biologist Wayne Linklater could save the endangered black rhino from extinction. Like many threatened species, the captive black rhino population suffers from a potentially disastrous gender imbalance. Linklater attributes the extreme male-biased birth rate (71%) of black rhinos in captivity to high glucose levels in mothers. "Glucose levels in the pregnant mothers are raised if they are stressed, fed a sugar-rich diet, and obese," he explains in the NZ Herald. "This has fatal consequences, particularly for female embryos. It is not that more male calves are being conceived, but rather that fewer female embryos survive to be born." Linklater's theory - borne out of his research into the Kaimanawa wild horses - has far-reaching implications for other endangered species, including zebras, gorillas and giraffes. 
(29 December 2006)

No such thing as waste 
A NZ company has stunned international researchers by successfully developing a fuel which blends petrol with organic waste. The Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation's breakthrough bio-diesel is made up of 95% petrol and 5% liquid squeezed from algae grown on human sewage. While the first batch of algae used came from sewage ponds, the company claims that organic waste from freezing works and dairy farms is equally effective. NZ energy minister David Parker and Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons recently drove a 4WD powered by the Aqaflow bio-diesel through central Wellington and claimed the fuel "performed admirably." 
(28 December 2006)

Origin controversy
Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria - or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?
(14 July 2001)

Carbon up
New Zealand's carbon emissions rose 22% in the 1990's, almost certainly putting Kyoto targets out of reach.
(27 June 2001)
             

Rat attack
New Zealand rat predatation expert Mike Bell called in to save the puffins of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.
(26 June 2001)
 

Young crusader
New Zealander Ruby Haazen, 13, sails the high seas fighting for a cleaner earth.
(2 April 2001) 

Oh lovely olearia
New Zealand olearias feature in celeb-gardner Penelope Hobhouse's top picks.
(1 March 2001) 
          

Elegant astelia
A New Zealand silver astelia adds elegance to Irish garden designer Dominick Murphy's small garden.
(11 March 2001)
          

Kiwi burger?
"If you were in a position where every family could eat kiwi for lunch, then you would have solved the problem, wouldn't you," says John Wamsley, head of the private Environmental Sanctuaries group. But, "our aim is to conserve the kiwi in the wild, not to manufacture kiwi conserves," replied the Department of Conservation.
(12 March 2001)

Tahrget
"Kiwi dardevil" enlisted to clear South African mountain of pesky tahrs.
(7 February 2001)

Royal bird
"No one who has seen an albatross on the wing is ever likely to forget the experience," says Prince Charles. New Zealand's Chatham Island albatross is down to 4000 pairs.
(11 January 2001) 

Burn out
Earth hits the nadir of its orbit in summer - the mere 147 million kilometres between us and the sun mean New Zealanders face "extreme" ultra-violet levels.
(5 January 2001)

Flower power
Does a pohutukawa in bloom signal a marriage, heat or no Father Christmas?
(24 December 2000)
 

Kiwi cannibal Hookers 
"We were shocked. The male would come ashore, grab the pup, swim out 50 or 100 metres with it, shake it around, kill it, and then bite off chunks and limbs and eat them," said Dr Ian Wilkinson, the biologist leading the study of New Zealand's Hooker sea lions.
(9 November 2000)

Moa manipulation
Digital manipulation is an example of Stephen Jay Gould's 'great asymmetry': creation takes much longer than destruction or consumption. "It takes millions or billions of years for evolution to produce a species well-adapted to its environment, while it takes just 'a momentary blow or shot from human hands' to kill the last African blaubok or New Zealand moa."
(October 2000)
     

Top of the Pots
New Zealand plants have a distinctive look to them, and the tree-fern is perhaps one of the most unusual. Ponga trees are a hot item in the UK. Home Front TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin highlights them on his show, and trendy tub-gardeners have followed his tip faithfully.
(10 September 2000)

Guilt-free fur 
NZ possum fur features in a Guardian article on "weird and wonderful" examples of eco-friendly products. Imported from Australia in 1837, possums have been wreaking havoc on NZ's native flora and fauna ever since. "We support killing possums," says Eric Pyle, conservation director of the World Wide Fund for Nature New Zealand. "From a conservation perspective, they are seen as New Zealand's number-one pest problem." The Guardian directs its readers to nzpossumproducts.co.nz, where they can buy possum fur hats, scarves, bed spreads and bikinis guilt-free. 
(20 September 2007)

Monster haul 
A NZ fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, one of the world's most aggressive and mysterious predators. The 450kg monster, with eyes the size of dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, is the first intact specimen of its kind to be successfully landed. Previously, fragments of colossal squids have only been found in the stomachs of sperm whales. "The scientific community will be very interested in this amazing creature," said Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton in Stuff. The frozen squid is to be transferred to Wellington's Museum of New Zealand, where it will be preserved for further analysis. 
(24 February 2007)

Drilling for knowledge 
Victoria University's Tim Naish is one of a hundred scientists from 40 different countries working on a map of climate change. The Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL) is digging deep below the Ross Ice Shelf to determine how massive ice sheets responded to past temperature changes. According to those involved, the creation of a map to show how the Earth may react to higher temperatures is vital. "We may not understand the future, but we can understand the past," says project leader David Harwood of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 
(28 December 2006)

Leading the field
"Never before has technology played such a pivotal role in bringing an animal back from the brink, setting the stage for computer-based rescues of endangered species elsewhere." SMH feature documents the radical efforts of NZ scientists and conservationists involved in the kakapo recovery program. The team leads the world in breeding expertise and innovation.
(28 December 2002)
         

Kakapo's getting it on 
The world's "rarest, heaviest,  and only nocturnal and flightless" parrot, NZ's native kakapo, enjoys a record breeding season with 22 chicks hatching on Whenua Hou, a small island off Stewart Island. Thanks to the bumper brood, kakapo numbers have risen by a third, from 62 to 84.
(20 March 2002)
            

Feel like Jonah/Never meaning no harm?
Phil Robinson, helicopter pilot and Greenpeace activist, films rare Southern Ocean footage of a Japanese vessel harpooning a whale after a 40 minute chase. "Scientists" responded by targeting Greenpeace inflatables with water cannons.
(18 December 2001)

Johnson and the Whale
Mark Johnson is literally leading the way with research into whale behaviour - part of his work involves attaching digital recorders to 60-foot sperm whales out in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists like Johnson are trying to find out why hundreds of whales have quit the open ocean and are congregating in an area crowded with ships and oil rigs.
Archived story
(24 September 2001)
          

Land purchase
1841:1,214 acres of land around Waitemata Harbour purchased from Maori - the future site of Auckland city.
(29 July 2001)
           

Old bones
Cache of moa bones and other fossils found under Canterbury vineyard.
(15 June 2001)
                 

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em
"We need to take millions of possums out of circulation, not just nibble at it," said Tauranga farmer Bryan Bassett-Smith promoting Possyum, the possum meat dog food he hopes will solve New Zealand's marsupial woes.
(7 June 2001)
 

Whale of a debate
Japan gets sharky over New Zealand's support for a Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, but South Pacific nations are right behind the proposal.
(20 April 2001)

Kyoto outcry
Phil Goff, Minister for Foreign Affairs and trade voiced New Zealand's condemnation of the Bush back-down on Kyoto after a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
(2 April 2001)
         

Clean fingers
European consumers can't wait to get their hands on sustainably fished New Zealand hoki fish-fingers, but some groups strongly dispute the fishery's right to the "sustainable" label.
(14 March 2001)
           

Edge eden
Cornwall's bio-dome Eden Project houses vegetation from every part of the planet - including the edge.
(11 March 2001)
           

Foreign bird
When's a kiwi not a kiwi?  When it's really an escaped Australian...
(9 February 2001)

           

Furry love
Wellington residents disturbed by amorous possums engage in chemical warfare to keep the peace.
(27 February 2001)
           

 
Extreme edge of life
Thermophile archaeons thrive at temperatures hot enough to boil the flesh off your bones. Layers of extremophile life form flourish in multi-coloured rings in Rotorua's thermal springs.
(11 January 2001)