Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:03 am – Posted by Mike Joy | 6 Comments
Guest Bloggers: Mike Joy, a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at Massey University & Masters student Amber McEwan
Of all our threatened endemic iconic species there is only one that almost all New Zealanders have come in contact with. Our other threatened species are on offshore islands or in very hard to access places, seen only by a select few. But this one, can, or at least could until very recently be found literally in many people’s back yards or within walking distance, it was accessible to almost everyone. This beautiful and enigmatic natural treasure is under immediate threat from a very small group of people with the active collusion of a government department.
Read more »
Published in: General
Tags: commercial eeling, extinction, freshwater, longfin eels, ministry of fisheries
Leave a Comment (6)
Wed, 25 Feb 2009 2:23 pm – Posted by Brian Lloyd | 3 Comments
Forest & Bird’s Bat Survey Officer, Top of the South, Brian Lloyd
Tasked with the job of surveying bat populations in the top of the South island, I have spent many summer days setting out bat detectors around the countryside in the hope that they pick up the high frequency echolocation (or clicks) that bats use to navigate their way around.
Short-tailed bat, Photo: Rosalind Cole
Sometimes a seemingly fruitless task , finding populations of these rare and elusive short-tailed and long-tailed bats, contributes to a national picture of the status of these two disappearing species.
Differing not only in appearance, but also with respect to feeding patterns & behaviour, our two bat species share little in common.
Short –tailed bats generally roost in large tree cavities, and in winter are known to stay in their roosts and go into torpor. Like our kakapo, they have a lek breeding system, which is the equivalent of a male sing-star contest to win over a prize mate. Most peculiarly though, is the way that they forage. Unlike most other micro-bats that catch air-borne creatures, short-tailed bats are known to forage on the ground using their folded wings as front limbs. This unusual trait makes them particularly vulnerable to predation. In the central North Island I found several thousand of these wonderful creatures in the large tracts of indigenous forest from Urewera west to Taranaki. A career highlight!
Read more »
Published in: General, Native land animals, Top of the South
Tags: extinction, long-tailed bat, short-tailed bat, volunteer
Leave a Comment (3)
Mon, 03 Nov 2008 3:15 pm – Posted by Mike Joy | 2 Comments
Freshwater quality in New Zealand has reached crisis point.
Decades of treating our rivers as convenient waste removal systems is now coming back to haunt us.
New Zealand lakes, rivers and streams have experienced and continue to experience exponential increases in pressure from farming intensification, residential subdivision, wastewater discharges, water abstraction, erosion from bad land management and a multitude of other impacts.
Read more »
Published in: General
Tags: extinction, fish, freshwater
Leave a Comment (2)
