Seven Wonders of Wildlife to Encounter in New Zealand

It is the sheer beauty and lushness of the New Zealand countryside that saw this country featured in a famous film trilogy. Whats more, there are unique wonders of wildlife in New Zealand.

It is the sheer beauty and lushness of the New Zealand countryside that saw this country featured in a famous film trilogy. Indeed, due to its singular distinction of having been the very last mass of land to be discovered, it abounds in wildlife species that are pretty unique and diverse.  It is therefore a wonderful idea to explore the New Zealand flora and fauna and make it an integral part of your visit to this beautiful country. A typical holiday package wildlife tour includes a lot of bird watching as well as whale watching activities. Very often there also arise close penguin and seal encounters. Dolphin watching and swimming with them is yet another very popular attraction for tourists, and should not be missed.

Let us turn our attention to the seven wonderful birds and reptiles, and get to know more about them.

The Black Swan, when first discovered in 1697 by some European explorers, did surprise them because of its colour. They are quite commonly found dotting the coastline and also near swamps. They use stems of reed to make their nests and lay clusters of five eggs at a time that are greenish white in their appearance. This is normally during autumn or winter.

'Blue bottle' is the name given to jellyfish in Australia and New Zealand. That is because of its colour and the manner in which it lies strewn on the beaches. The jellyfish is not a single entity and is actually a combination of many zooids. Every zooid has its own individual role to play, and they all play their part in unison to enable the jellyfish to function as if it is one animal. This animal has small fish and other smaller creatures of the ocean as its prey, which it captures through its tentacles. These cover the prey and release a poison rendering the prey immobile, which helps the Blue Bottle to easily consume its prey.

The Moa is a bird that is now extinct. The last one was found around 1800. This huge flightless bird was found mainly inhabiting the North Island and could weigh up to 200kgs. It stood tall at 2.5 metres, and had an elongated neck that helped it to pick up fruits and seeds that constituted its main diet. The interesting aspect about this bird was that it never showed any evidence of possessing wings.

The Blue Whale is arguably the largest mammal to inhabit this planet. It is currently on the endangered list having been nearly hunted to extinction in the 1960s. These mammals look for warmer climes during winter and migrate in small groups. They are great and swift swimmers, and are able to reach speeds of close to 30 miles in an hour.

The Kiwi bird is the national bird of New Zealand, and is a flightless bird with attributes such as a thick skin, a strong smell and small hair-like feathers that is very typical of mammals.

The tuatara is a reptile that weighs about 600grams and can attain a length of about 25cms. This reptile is unique as it can be located only in New Zealand, though it has been a planet resident for more than 200 million years.

The Kea is a resident of South Island and prefers high altitude. It has been acknowledged as being a very intelligent bird and also very curious. They are also a highly protected species and only about 5000 of them survive in the wild.

As evident from the above, New Zealand is indeed a destination that is worth visiting not only for its scenic beauty but also for its superb flora and fauna.

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