Incredible & covert wildlife
“People protect what they love.” - Jacques Costeau. We’re passionate about connecting people to nature. When we connect people to the ecosystems and unique taonga species in their backyard and community, we’re also inspiring them to protect those places.
New Zealand slugs are patterned to look like a leaf! Photo : Bexie Towle
Most New Zealand native species are hard to see. Many kiwis have only seen native fish in their whitebait fritters. Invertebrates hide in our bush and backyards, small and camouflaged. We’re the seabird capital of the world, but the average New Zealander rarely gets to SEE a SEABIRD. Seabirds spend most of their lives at sea, coming to land to nest in underground burrows. In the case of ōi, they come in on stormy winter nights. We’ve had a few reports of surfers seeing penguins out at Manu Bay, but we’ve also responded to a report of a dead penguin, where the autopsy revealed it was killed by a dog right near Manu Bay.
New signage for Bryant Reserve and Ngarunui Beach will show just how incredible our native species are. Did you know wētā are only found in New Zealand and are a species so old, they outlive the dinosaurs. Giant wētā are so enormous, they’re amongst the heaviest insects in the world. There 1,400 very unique native species of slugs and snails! “By comparison, the United Kingdom, with a similar land area, has only 112 native species. This amazing diversity of species is due largely to New Zealand’s long isolation, its varied landscape, and possibly a lack of predators.” - teara.govt.nz
Long-Tailed Bats live right in Raglan! We can help protect them by trapping, reducing pesticide use, protecting their roosts (old or dead trees with hollows or cavities), keeping cats inside at night, dealing to wasps and planting more natives that attract the insects they feed on. Photo : Wiea Montemazzani
We hope our new signage will enhance visitors’ experience of these reserves and beaches by introducing them to the biodiversity and life that exists around them, while also giving them ways that THEY can help protect them. Each sign suggests how to help the species it features. Everyone can do their bit, whether it’s keeping dogs on a lead and cats inside at night. Or bringing rubbish home with them when they visit the beach.
In addition, we hope that signage will prevent vandalism of the trapping network, as we increase predator control to more public spaces. We’re lucky to have endangered species right next to popular places, including pekapeka (long-tailed bats) right in Raglan town and moho pererū (banded rails) next to our rugby grounds. Our traps need to be visible, both to pest species and the public, as this makes for more effective predator control. However, we’ve had some issues with vandalism of the traps. We hope signage will help explain the volunteer effort and inspire our community to protect the places that they love and live!
The wētā is only found in New Zealand and is so old it has outlived the dinosaurs and has changed very little in the past 100 million years. The wētā is even more primitive than the tuatara! Photo : Neil Fitzgerald