animated chameleon catching a fly Weird Things animated chameleon catching a fly
I think just about all of the weird things on this page come from New Zealand - which is an amazing place in evolutionary terms due to its long, geographic isolation.

As for more recent fauna my eldest brother Iain lives there. He could be granted inclusion on this page as he is serious weird - but that's a whole other web site. Anyway, he lives in Wellington with his girlfriend Katy and they love it there. Although God knows what the natives think of them.

So anyway on to the point of the page: weird things in New Zealand. Apart from two species of bat - no mammals are indigenous to New Zealand. So what does this mean? It means seeing crickets the size of your fist, which fill the niche of mice and voles. And instead of mammals there are big fluffy beautiful birds which can't fly and chew on earth worms the size of a guy's forearm.

In the south island sheep can get mugged by gangs of mountain parrots. Of course cats and dogs and possums and things have been introduced and have almost annihilated the native birds, parrots and crickets. Although I believe the worms are doing alright.

New Zealand is a bad place to be a cat - you'll be kept inside all your life or shot. Anyway there are hardly any snakes there, few insects apart from the giant cricket and one type of lizard that has 3 eyes.

And why is New Zealand so weird? Because 80 million years ago it broke free of the giant land mass consisting of South America to Antarctica to Australia and New Zealand. And its been drifting around - alone - ever since.

So it followed a different evolutionary path than anywhere else. And I think it was, if not more efficient, a much nicer one that all of our sabre-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths and nasty neanderthals.

These fluffy birds were much less aggressive - apart from the mountain parrots with attitude - and may have evolved into something quite interesting.

Anyway - in the face of people and cats and dogs and rats - the indigenous species are becoming extinct. So New Zealand has made a number of islands, (Little Barrier Island, Tiriti Matanga and others in the Hauraki Gulf), conservation areas - people aren't allowed on some - and there all the beautiful birds are being protected.

It's all a really cool conservationist effort and we should all be watching.

To find out more go to New Zealand Forest and Bird branch sites to see where I got my pictures and information from. They also have cool recordings of bird songs.

And so onto the pictures!

kiwi bird

This is the little spotted Kiwi. This bird is protected on the island of Tiritiri Matangi. This island is an open sanctuary meaning that people can visit. Most of the vegetation and birds have been introduced since 1984 and the ancient habitat is being carefully regenerated.

big black bird with a big red beak This bird is the Takahe and it lives with the little spotted Kiwi and the other guys on the same island. Although I did see a nature show the other day that showed these birds had been found in the mountains of the South Island (near the rowdy mountain parrots).

I also saw the birds in a breeding center where the chicks had to be fed by someone in a black jumper holding a red plastic cup in their hand. That way the chicks thought they were being fed by their Mum.

Well no-one said big fluffy birds were smart.

big fluffy green parrot This parrot is Kakapo - the largest and most endangered parrot on Earth. It is flightless and nocturnal and was described by early Europeans as "the most wonderful bird on Earth."

Today there are only 50 Kakapos left in the world. 16 of which live on Little Barrier Island.

Kakapo is Polynesian for Parrot of the Night. The Kakapo browses forest trees, ferns, herbs and moss and chews it all up.

Kakapo's can weigh up to four kilograms. They breed only once every 2-4 years and do not hang out in pairs - only getting together for mating.

The Kakapo is now endangered not by rats and cats - well yes it is - but now they are wearing suits and saying that there is a deficit and all "unnecessary" programs have to be cut.

The Kakapo is said to be very cuddly and smells like perfume.

mouse sized grasshopper sitting on guy's hand This giant cricket is called a Weta - named after the Maori God of bad looks.

These crickets fill the ecological niche held by rodents and small mammals in other countries. The biggest ones now live only in the protected islands in the Hauraki Gulf but some of the smaller hole-dwelling Weta live all over New Zealand.

The Giant Weta lead solitary lives but these smaller tree Weta's are gregarious and snuggle together in holes (kind of like a giant grasshopper rave I suppose). Adult males are in charge and they will fight other adult males for territory and females. Usually the male with the bigger head wins (!)

Weta live for 18 months to two years.

two grumpy looking lizards These are tuataras - a sort of dinosaur hangover and pretty much the only lizard on New Zealand. It is bad news for Wetas.

Tuataras live on just a few small islands off the coast of New Zealand. They are nocturnal and if you grab their tail it will come off and the Tuatara will grow a new one.

It also has a vestigial third eye.

Please send me pictures of weird animals. Or tell me if I have missed anything else weird in New Zealand. I would love to hear about weird animals or plants anywhere.
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