10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

New Zealand has a very odd biota these days. They took dogs to Australia, chickens across the Pacific, rabbits to England, horses to the New World, and then brought potatoes back. So that New Zealand would end up with quite a few species of animal not originally found here is hardly surprising of itself.

New Zealand 162

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2014

Eagle-eyed readers of my posts will have noticed that I haven’t been talking about New Zealand much lately. But really, the reason I haven’t had much to say about New Zealand lately is because I haven’t seen much of it. But mostly it just gets colder and darker and more unpleasant to be out.

New Zealand 140

New Zealand Australia Albatross Pigs 140

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

The Southern Brown Kiwi on Stewart Island, New Zealand, that ran down the path in front of me, was never captured. They might very well have their Kiwi, but in my opinion, no bird could possible represent the country of New Zealand as well as the beautifully voiced Tui.

2018 178

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 178

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2011

I couldn’t tell you how many birds I’ve seen in New Zealand. I guess it must have been a slow news day. And it also occurs that had I not gone to see it and Corey and Mike had found out I would have gotten 10,000 demerits and lost my position as beat writer for New Zealand. So I went to see it.

Penguins 167

Penguins New Zealand Zoos Birds 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

This is a very serious business here in New Zealand. New Zealand has been the recipient of a higher than average number of introduced species, in particular a range of mammals from elk to mice. The initial solution in New Zealand was to move species to islands where mammals hadn’t reached.

Animal Rights 268

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 268

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

The answer should be obvious to anyone familiar with wildfowl hunting in the US and the film Jerry McGuire – money. If you want to have the “thrill” of shooting a wild lion (not a canned hunt), well, you’re going to need a lot of land to sustain those lions. Managing areas for hunting does exactly that.

Lions 191

Lions Killing Hunting Hunters 191