Born and bred Otago residents may not realise how lucky they are to have so many wildlife treasures right on their doorstep, Department of Conservation Coastal Otago programme manager biodiversity assets David Agnew says.
A kaka spotted in a Saddle Hill garden could be the missing bird from Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
A chance photograph taken by the public has helped researchers show a southern right whale has travelled more than 600km from the Auckland Islands to Coastal Otago in a few weeks.
The Government plans to introduce tough new penalties aimed at deterring would-be wildlife smugglers from entering New Zealand.
Two dead beaked whales found washed up on the Catlins Coast recently brings to five the number of dead marine mammals found on the coast this year - an unusually high number, according to Department of Conservation ranger Cheryl Pullar.
Yellow-eyed penguin breeding numbers in the 2009-10 season are down 20% on last year's figures, but the Department of Conservation is not concerned.
A group of 49 sub-adult kaki (black stilts) were released near Lake Pukaki last week.
The Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony is determined to retain its place as a leading attraction for visitors, despite facing competition from plans to develop similar facilities in other areas.
Outback Queensland is in full bloom after the big wet of a few months ago, with desert areas turning into oceans of grass and wildlife booming.
Dunedin film-maker Scott Mouat has received two pieces of good news in recent weeks.
Jaws gaping, razor-sharp teeth bared, the great white shark launches after the tuna bait and smacks into the metal cage holding a row of wetsuit-clad tourists.
Native fish such as galaxiids should be valued as much as the kiwi and other native birds, says Craig Potton, who is in Central Otago this week filming the Clutha River episode of a television documentary.
In the second week of April, 25 South Island robins from Douglas fir plantations on the flanks of the Silverpeaks were liberated at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary - another milestone for the project, as Neville Peat reports.
Sea lion pups frolicking in a pine forest next to an Otago Peninsula beach had their playtime interrupted yesterday as a Department of Conservation-led team gave them a quick checkup.
South Island robins, the "stars of avian entertainment", have been released into Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
Decades of stories and rumours about moose sightings have been brought together in a new book which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the animal's release in Fiordland.
• The Moana landed at the Bluff on Monday a transhipment from Canada consisting of 10 moose (four bulls and six cows).
Forty rare South Island saddlebacks have been released on a new predator-free sanctuary in Fiordland, in an operation sponsored by a Gibbston winery and carried out with the Department of Conservation in Te Anau.
Department of Conservation coastal ranger Jim Fyfe said a male sea lion was reported crossing Shore St alongside the inlet about 7am.
Watching a bright green and gold jewelled gecko climb on to a branch and disappear into the greenery gave their custodians some satisfaction yesterday.