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Displaying items 1 - 30 of 104 in total
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Resurrecting Wellington’s Flowers of the Underworld
Audio 11 Nov 2025Until a chance discovery in 2024, nobody had seen Dactylanthos taylorii, AKA te pua o Te RÄ"inga “the flower of the underworld†in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. These unique… Audio
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SS3 - OCW - Tune into nature: Underdogs under the ledge
In New Zealand, lizards are as fascinating as they are endangered - there are 125 species and most of them give birth to live young and they’re true wildlife underdogs - so rare and out of sight… Audio
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Our Changing World – A tricky trap for redback spiders
Invasive redback spiders are highly venomous, threatening both people and New Zealand’s native species. A team of scientists is developing a cunning tool to trap male redbacks, by concocting an… Audio
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Looking to the future for a low-lying wetland
Climate-change-induced sea level rise is happening. What will this mean for our low-lying wetlands? Will they get eroded away – releasing more carbon? Or will they grow at the same rate, and hold… Audio
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Drones for pest control
Aotearoa is a country plagued by pests, but conservationists are hoping advances in drone technology could turn the tables. Producer William Ray looks at how drones are being trialled in controlling… Video, Audio
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Turning the tide – what it takes to take out rats
Kate Evans visits a passionate team as they carpet a remote volcanic island in Tonga with poisoned bait, hoping to eradicate rats. What does it take to complete this kind of project, what are the… Audio
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New Zealand’s Antipodes Islands – remote, wild, and special
An ambitious project to rid the remote Antipodes Island of introduced mice proved successful in 2018. Claire Concannon visits the spectacular subantarctic island to meet the locals – from penguins to… Audio
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Summer science: Kākā in Wellington
Kākā numbers are skyrocketing in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington thanks to conservation efforts. The summer science series continues with a walk through Zealandia to find out why you shouldn't feed… Audio
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The Great Ireland vs New Zealand Bird-off: Part 2
The Great Ireland vs. New Zealand Bird-off returns for part 2 to decide once and for all which island nation boasts the best birds. Our avian aficionados return to argue their case in front of judge… Audio
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The great Ireland vs. New Zealand bird-off: Part 1
Welcome to the great Ireland vs New Zealand bird-off. Two islands, a world apart – but which country has the better birds? Two bird nerds champion their nation's birds across four categories in an… Audio
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Battling weeds with biocontrol
In Aotearoa we talk a lot about mammalian predators attacking our native wildlife, but other insidious pests are quietly taking over – weedy plants. Tackling these weeds using chemical and mechanical… Audio
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Bats vs cats
New Zealand's native long-tailed bat, pekapeka-tou-roa, is going strong in Franklin, south of Auckland. But these tiny mammals are threatened by introduced predators, especially cats. Producer Liz… Video, Audio
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Summer science: Rabbits and other pests
We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into the story of rabbits and other pests introduced to… Audio
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Summer science: Two stories about genetics
Two stories about genetics produced by students at the University of Otago's Department of Science Communication. Amanda Konyn investigates whether gene editing has a role in future pest control… Audio
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Bringing back nature to Nelson
Alison Ballance visits the Brook Waimārama sanctuary, and discovers that the old saying "many hands make light work" is particularly true when it comes to community conservation. A relatively new… Audio
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Summer Science: Voices - To spray or not to spray
Summer science continues with a play of a science related episode from RNZ's Voices podcast. In 'To spray or not to spray' we meet Tim Vandervoet as he investigates ways to reduce insecticide use in… Audio
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Sniffing out cancer
Claire visits the team at K9 Medical Detection Charitable Trust to learn how their dogs are being trained to detect bowel and prostate cancer. Audio
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The kaka's return
The return of South Island kākā to the the Ōtepoti Dunedin area has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Claire Concannon hears about the tragedies and the triumphs, and the plans for what comes next.
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2: Defiance / Remove and Protect
New Zealander’s have drawn a line in the sand, announcing they will rid the nation of rats, stoats and possums by 2050, but what will it take to get there? Video, Audio
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Award for using DNA to better understand plants & animals
Geneticist Neil Gemmell has won the 2020 Hutton Medal for using DNA & new genomic technologies to better understant plants & animals. Audio
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Enemy #1 - brown marmorated stink bug
Italy is suffering from a brown marmorated stink bug invasion. Damian Christie heads there to find out what New Zealand learn from their experiences. Video, Audio
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Our Changing World for 24 October 2019
Italy is experiencing an invasion of brown marmorated stink bugs that is crippling the fruit industry. What can New Zealand learn from their experience? Audio
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A bridge between science & mātauranga Māori
Dr Ocean Mercier's work bridging the worlds of science and traditional Māori knowledge has been recognised with the 2019 Callaghan Medal for science communication. Audio
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Detector Gadget the conservation dog
Detector Gadget is a dog with a job. She is a conservation dog trained by her handler Sandy King to sniff out rodents on predator-free islands. Audio
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Kākāpō chicks growing up
The kākāpō chicks are graduating to being juveniles and only seven birds are still sick with aspergillosis, in ep 23 of the Kākāpō Files. Audio
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Restoring Fiordland's 'island lifeboats'
The Department of Conservation and volunteer groups, including the Coal Island Trust, are hard at work removing pests such as stoats and deer from Fiordland's many islands. Audio
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Our Changing World for 25 July 2019
The Department of Conservation and groups such as the Coal Island Trust are taking pests off Fiordland islands and reintroducing rare species. Audio
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Predator Free NZ - dream or reality?
A panel of five experts debate what it will take to turn the idea of a predator-free New Zealand by 2050 from a dream into a reality. Audio
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Our Changing World for 20 June 2019
A panel discussion on 'Predator Free New Zealand - dream or reality' with five experts in pest biology and large scale eradication porjects. Audio
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Fluorine - the non-stick element
Fluorine is a highly toxic green gas that is the main ingredient in non-stick teflon coatings. In ep 27 of Elemental, Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, says that fluorine has very different properties… Audio