Rebecca Fox

Average maximum temperatures were 2degC to 4degC warmer throughout Otago last month, but Dunedin still came in the coldest of New Zealand's main centres.

They are keeping up their air of mystery but the kiwi at Orokonui Ecosanctuary are believed to be settling in well.

Otago's latest winter air quality report card shows the region's most polluted towns are still exceeding national standards, although some are showing a steady reduction over time.

New water-take measurement and reporting regulations should be seen as an "opportunity" rather than an impediment by Otago's mining privilege holders, Otago Regional Council resource management director Selva Selvarajah says.

Their request for a trial bus service between Karitane and Evansdale has been declined but Liz Abbott and Rudie Verhoef are not giving up.

A "gigantic waste of taxpayers' money", which will not benefit Otago, is how Otago Regional Councillor Duncan Butcher described the Land and Water Forum report on long-term strategies for managing freshwater in New Zealand.

An attempt to save a punctured royal albatross egg at the Taiaroa Head colony by patching it with antiseptic cream, tape and glue has failed.

Otago Regional Council chief executive Graeme Martin is threatening to advise the council to withdraw its support for the Government's proposed dam safety regulations because the "current liability is totally unacceptable".

A compromise has been reached allowing the Moeraki mataitai to be approved, albeit with different boundaries, 10 years after it was first proposed, but commercial paua divers still have concerns about its potential impact on the Otago paua fishery.

A rare chance to see wetlands usually inaccessible to the general public is to be provided by the Lake Waipori-Waihola Wetlands Society.

An outbreak of avian diphtheria has hit southern Otago Peninsula yellow-eyed penguins.

Speakers from around the world are in Dunedin this week to discuss a range of topics related to biodiversity as part of the New Zealand Ecological Society annual conference.

People telling other people heat pumps do not heat homes in Central Otago as well as log burners is a challenge the Otago Regional Council is facing as it tries to clean up the region's air.