Imagine a place where kids could wormhole back in time, bob on the oceans currents and stare down at the vast schools of butterfish, mao mao, parrotfish and eagle rays. That’s the kind of experiential study that veteran scuba-diver, aquanaut and author Wade Doak would like to see more of in New Zealand. Deprived of fish-filled […]
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick As the mercury rises, the almighty insect kingdom is truly awakened – cicadas beat out their rambunctuous song, butterflies burst onto the scene and honey bees swarm in search of a new residence. New Zealand has eight types of introduced bees that were brought here for their honey-making abilities or to aid in pollination. […]
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick An army of miniscule tailed pathogens has been storming across our ancient kauri-land leaving skeletal remains in its wake. In this video, I talked to one of the people fronting the counter-attack – Auckland Council Ranger, Nick Waipara. So far, it has spread to Great Barrier, Auckland and Northland, and […]
Genetic scientist Tammy Steeves is one of a few lab-rats in the country working closely with recovery groups to improve the genetic soup of our most imperilled species. During her research career, she’s studied everything from the miniscule to the massive: marine snails to grey whales. Birds are now her focus. A kaki- poaka hybrid. […]
Blogger: Web Manager for Forest & Bird, Mandy Herrick Trap designer Robbie Greig is what you’d call a possumologist. He has spent umpteen hours examining their anatomy, observing their family life and dishing up various foods to them so he can develop a deep understanding of their palette. Indeed, if you searched through the filofax […]
Blogger: Web Manager for Forest & Bird, Mandy Herrick The extinction status that was slapped down on our South Island kokako in 2007 no doubt set off a wave of furrowed brows, disgruntled sighs and shouty letters. Prior to 2007, it hovered on the cusp of extinction for nigh on 40 years – and despite […]
Blogger: Forest and Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick Ah, ‘tis is the end of Conservation week. And while many people were busy outdoors planting forests & litter-picking beaches, desk jockeys like myself grew a deep computer tan as the blog-o-sphere trilled, tweeted and twittered to a green tune. Below is a quick round-up of some […]
New Zealand’s growing population means we need to generate a lot more power We’ve got to go nuclear If we don’t want more fossil fuel plants then greenies need to look at the big picture and sacrifice a few valleys and hills These are opinions I’ve heard increasingly often in the last few years but […]
Blogger: Web Manager for Forest & Bird, Mandy Herrick Given their penchant for getting drunk on fermented berries, it comes as no surprise that our kereru is one of our more accident prone birds. In fact, they get in into so many scrapes that a small hospital has been set up in Dunedin to care for […]