Animals

Just off the coast of Fiordland are a number of predator free islands that are home to some of New Zealand's rarest residents, the kakapo. There are currently around only 200 of the flightless parrots… Audio

Two families of Northern New Zealand dotterels are enjoying world-class harbour views from their nests in the gravel on Auckland's Wynyard Point.

The Point is the site of an old Shell silo park but… Audio

The Northern Royal Albatross has been a crowd favourite on the Department of Conservation's livestreamed "royal cam", and the stars of the newest colony in Otago have just been born.

All 36 pairs… Audio

New Zealand veterinarian Trish Johansen has been running a clinic in Siem Reap since 2015, and among her clients have been Cambodia's remarkable landmine-clearing rats. The death of one such rat… Audio, Gallery

This week's critter is the critically endangered carnivorous snail Rhytida occonori that lives in just two locations in the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park. Audio

A summer holiday close encounter with an Orca is not what a group of children were expecting when they paddled their kayaks out into Ligar Bay, near Takaka, but it's left them buzzing.

Nelson's… Audio

Waikanae bird watchers are delighted after a rare sighting over the weekend.

On Friday last week local photographer Elizabeth Taylor spotted an unusual bird and snapped a picture before posting it on… Audio

The Kākāpō Recovery breeding programme is on track for a bumper season, offering hope for the critically endangered bird's future.

There are only 200 or so Kākāpō in the world.

The nocturnal… Audio

This summer, cars and utes are pouring into a roadside stall off State Highway 1 on the Kapiti Coast. They're coming to pick up raw milk from a self-service vending machine operated by the Faith… Audio

Warmer sea temperatures and a changing climate could be what's causing more ocean-borne bites, stings and rashes.

Swimmers across the North Island have been sharing their itchy experiences on social… Audio

Dr Fiona Cross loves spiders. She loves their webs, the mini eyes, their mini legs. She is an arachnologist, that is, as the name might suggest, one who studies spiders. Although as she told Emile… Audio

Most people, were you to ask them, would say they love animals. Yet it's also statistically likely those same people, and I include myself in this, also eat the flesh of animals, wear their skin… Audio

While many around the country clocked out of work in late December, the SPCA headed into their busiest time of the year. Laura Millar is the Support Services Manager at SPCA's Mangere Centre in… Audio

A group of karearea - or the New Zealand falcon - have been swooping at unknowing walkers on the Eastern Walkway in Wellington.

The council's asking people to avoid the area, to give the nesting… Audio

Keep your ears out for a "flutey" and melancholic birdcall if you're heading for the Heaphy Track this summer. A bird recorded by three trampers on 29 December may have been made by the possibly… Video, Audio

A badger in northern Spain has struck gold - literally.

The curious critter helped uncover more than 200 Roman coins, dating back to the third century.

Archaeologist Alfonso Fanjul, told Morning… Audio

Hamilton Zoo's Sumatran tiger Mencari is turning 22 - becoming the second oldest captive tiger of its breed in the world.

The zoo's curator Mark Turner spoke to Morning Report. Audio