New Zealand is a country which has amazing wildlife. You will find wide variety of birds, insects, mammals and marine animals. If you plan to visit this country, you will be amazed by these critters.
These are the 9 incredible animals you will only meet in New Zealand as they are native to this country. They have very unique characteristics you don’t want to miss!
Every country has its own native animals, just like native animals of China and native animals in Colombia.
This is considered as the most famous bird in New Zealand. The kiwi (it’s always written in lowercase) is an interesting little bird. This bird is flightless and can live up to 50 years.
Its feathers look like hair and it has strong legs but no tails. The kiwi bird has 5 different species. That’s why this bird keeps being protected from extinction.
This species of sea lion is considered as the New Zealand’s native animal as it was once found along the entire length of New Zealand’s coast. The male sea lions have darker color than the female ones.
They can live up to 25 years. Unfortunately, the population of New Zealand sea lion keeps decreasing as they are mostly confined to the Otago and Southland regions and the sub-Antarctic islands.
Kereru is
also known as the New Zealand wood pigeon. It is a large bird that has white
vest and lustrous green feathers on its head. Different with New Zealand sea
lion and the kiwi bird, this bird is not endangered. You can easily find kereru
in any forested areas nearby.
There’s one
unique thing about kereru: it has wings that can make a loud sound when they
resonates around New Zealand’s native bush.
Weta is one of the famous invertebrae that has inhabited New Zealand since prehistoric era. Weta has various size, but it can be recognized easily by its elongated bodies, curved tusks and spiny legs.
There are some new species discovered recently, and the latest one was made just under 30 years ago. Amazingly, there are around 70 known species of weta and 16 of them are endangered.
What is skink? Skink is a slender, little lizards that fall under nine different species. The largest skink is the Otago skink, which is known to grow up to 300 millimeters long.
In contrast with lizards in common, the Otago skink is a diurnal and omnivorous creature. It does not hibernate. It got its name, the Otago skink because they are mainly found in small sections of the Otago region.
The Otago
skink is black in color and it has blotches of green, yellow or grey. It is
able to live up to 20 years.
Koura is a freshwater crayfish that hides along New Zealand’s lakes and streams. It is really difficult to spot this animal because of its shells color. It has dark-green shells that enable it to camouflage with the rocks underwater.
There are two species of koura exist. You can find the larger one around the area of the eastern end of the South Island and Steward Island. The smaller ones can be found on the North Island and parts of the South Islands.
Hector’s dolphin is the smallest dolphin species. It is named that way after Sir James Hector examined a dolphin specimen. This species of dolphin can be spotted riding the waves around the South Island. You can even this species in many pods around the Akarea Harbour near Christchurch.
Do you know that dolphin is also one of the smartest animals in the world?
Penguins do not only become one of the animals in Antarctica, they also inhabit some countries, such as New Zealand. The species of penguins inhabiting this country is yellow-eyed penguin.
Yellow-eyed penguins can be found around the south-east of New Zealand, Banks Peninsula and Steward Island. This species of penguins is known to be the rarest species in the world. Its population experiences a steep decline because of human’s interference in its natural habitat.
Tuatara is one of the most unique animals in New Zealand. Moreover, it is also the only surviving species of the Sphenodontia – the reptile’s order that thrived since 200 million years ago.
That’s why it is given a nickname “the living dinosaur”. This animal is incredibly unique as it has 3 eyes, the third eye is located on the top of its head. Tuatara prefers to be in a cool climatic conditions (not exceeding that 25 degrees Celsius).
Many conservation houses in New Zealand have housed tuatara due to the reasons of scientific interest. You can still spot them in the wild as they can be found on various offshore islands.
8 most dangerous animals in New Zealand will also surprise you that this country also has some dangerous animals. If you visit this country, make sure you also stay safe from these animals.