For eight years, Kiwi photographers have gathered the best images of our environment and society and submitted them to expert judgment and public scrutiny in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of ...

There’s a dark side to herpetoculture—the hobby of keeping reptiles. Attempts to bring exotic reptiles into New Zealand put native species and ecosystems at risk, while demand from international ...

One of the world’s smallest nations is transforming its economy from subsistence to sustainability. Will Niue’s brave new plan work? Each year between August and October, humpbacks rest in the calm ...

The last 50 years has seen a focus on cleaning up environmental messes—in policy jargon, mitigating the effects of human activities. This approach has led to the creation worldwide of institutions ...

In the largest pest-eradication operation yet undertaken in New Zealand, 11,300 ha Campbell Island was blitzed with rat poison in the winter of 2001. Helicopters, such as this Jet Ranger, buzzing ...

Gypsies, tramps and thieves—in some measure, New Zealand’s swaggers were all of these things. They were opportunists in a society that idolised hard work and conformity. Their vagabondage earned them ...

This summer will be remembered by many for the large numbers of stinging bluebottles (Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish) that appeared in the surf and on the shores of many New Zealand beaches. At the ...

A one-centimetre-long shrimp can’t create an ocean current when it swims, but en masse, these tiny creatures could be contributing to ocean mixing. A Stanford University study published in Nature ...

The planting of Russell lupins as sheep feed in the Canterbury high country is triggering a clash between farming and conservation values. In early summer, photographers jostle for space on the ...

Whether dancing above a flower or alighting to sip nectar, New Zealand’s two species of admiral butterflies are a delight to watch. But other eyes watch to devour these splendid creatures, and more ...

One of the rarest ecologies in the world is hiding in plain sight, in the centre of the most central suburb of the largest city in New Zealand. Of more than 5000 hectares of rock forest that once ...

In the South Island’s remote subalpine regions, a highly terrestrial songbird—one of two surviving species of New Zealand wren—has hopped, chirped and flown in the face of extinction. There are four ...