Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near Wellington. This is the first in a series of blogs about the project and the wildlife of Takapourewa. Over the past… Read more »
Posts categorized as Conservation
Colin McCahon’s Northland Panels travels north to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Earlier this year I travelled to Auckland Art Gallery with one of Te Papa’s masterpieces, Colin McCahon’s Northland Panels, 1958, which is the centrepiece of the exhibition Modern Paints Aoteraroa. This was the first time in 25 years that the iconic painting has travelled to another institution, and the first time in five years that… Read more »
The Great Kereru Count 2014 – 22nd September to 5th October
This blog was written by Mel Dash, who is currently on maternity leave from Te Papa Kererū (New Zealand’s native wood pigeon) are making a comeback but they still need our help so Forest and Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC), Kereru Discovery and partners have organised a two week Kererū Count to get an idea… Read more »
Kaitiaki project for Matariki in StoryPlace!
There has been an awesome collaborative project happening in StoryPlace as part of our Matariki programme! The response has been absolutely huge! With kaitiakitanga (guardianship) as our theme for 2014, we wanted to give tamariki (children) and their whānau (family and friends) the opportunity to acknowledge, discuss and share the role they play in caring for the people,… Read more »
Snares Islands Flora – bryophytes & lichens
In late 2013, I joined a Te Papa science team on an expedition to the Snares Islands Nature Reserve, 105 km south-southwest of Stewart Island. Here we completed a range of seabird and plant research projects. One of our research goals on the Snares Islands was to collect non-vascular plants. Non-vascular plants include mosses, liverworts and hornworts (collectively… Read more »
The tale of the Te Papa taniwha
This blog comes from our lovely Audience Engagement intern, Shonagh Lowerson-Head: On Sunday 2nd March, as part of our Seaweek Family Fun Day, a new sea monster was created: the Te Papa taniwha. But it’s story starts earlier than that. A week previous, the materials were gathered from Evans Bay beach. Sea Shepherd, a marine… Read more »
We know what you did this summer!!
Bart Cox and Jasmine Gibbins spent their summer researching native orchids at Te Papa. Bart and Jasmine are part of a group of seven students from Victoria University of Wellington that were awarded a Summer Research Scholarship co-funded by Te Papa and Victoria University of Wellington. Bart’s research focused on a threatened perching orchid, Drymoanthus flavus, and its… Read more »
Preparing for China: Throne of Emperors
Kung hei fat choy! Happy New Year of the Horse! We are galloping along with preparations for the exhibition China: Throne of Emperors which will open in the Visa gallery on the 22nd of March. In addition to more than 150 ceramic, jade, metalwork and textile objects… Read more »
Snares Islands Flora – the ferns
This blog explores the fern flora of the Snares Islands/Tini Heke where I was one of four Te Papa Science staff to visit the islands in Nov-Dec 2013. There are currently five recognised species of fern on the Snares Islands, the closest sub-antarctic island group to New Zealand. North East Island, the main island of the Snares… Read more »
Snares Islands Flora – an introduction
I was lucky enough to be one of four Te Papa Science staff to complete a 15 day multidisciplinary field study on the Snares Islands/Tini Heke in December 2013. The vascular flora of the Snares Islands is limited, at only 22 species (including one hybrid Poa). Despite this, my first impression of the main island was… Read more »