Alan Tennyson holding an oiled penguin. Photograph by A. Tennyson, Te Papa

The team of Te Papa bird specialists is continuing to help at the wildlife recovery centre in Tauranga as both live and dead oiled birds continue to come ashore 3 weeks after the grounding of the M.V. Rena. Our job is primarily to make sure that dead birds are correctly identifiedRead more

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Hagfish teeth

Not many of you will believe that hagfish, also called snot-eels, are fascinating creatures, but they truly are. You will only be able to believe me after reading this post. I still persist saying that I am not falling in love with them but some of my colleagues start worryingRead more

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Red-billed gull oiled at Maketu. Photograph by and reproduced courtesy of Dominique Filippi

Dead oiled wildlife continues to be collected from Bay of Plenty beaches, and the Te Papa Natural Environment team has been assisting with the Wildlife Recovery Centres activities of documenting and recovering species affected by the oil. The species found oiled include the many birds which nest in the BayRead more

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Many New Zealand forests are sprinkled with white at this time of the year. The indigenous Clematis are flowering, and particularly striking with its large white flowers is Clematis paniculata (puawhananga, white clematis). There is a plant of Clematis paniculata flowering wonderfully at present in Te Papa’s Bush City, atRead more

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I first got into studying biodiversity because I wanted New Zealand’s plants and animals to be looked after better.  New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity is not in great shape. A lot of my research at Te Papa – describing new species, distinguishing and mapping different species, and determining how populations and speciesRead more

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A highlight of our Fijian expedition was a trip to Kadavu, a medium-sized island south of Viti Levu. Kadavu is a priority for Conservation International.  Four species of bird occur there and nowhere else in the world.  However, little is known of Kadavu’s bryophytes, lichens, and ferns, and it was ourRead more

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I’m lucky to have escaped the end of the New Zealand winter with a work trip to Fiji. This was as part of a Conservation International-funded, international expedition. The trip was led by Matt von Konrat of Chicago’s Field Museum, with local logistics coordinated by Marika Tuiwawa and Alivereti NaikatiniRead more

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Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the eighth instalment of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Previous blogs on the penguin were posted between 23 June and 29 August. Seventy-sixRead more

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Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Colin Miskelly is in Guayaquil as the expert advisor to the New Zealand delegation at the 6th ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) meeting, and has provided this report. The ACAP meeting has been a great opportunity to meet with albatrossRead more

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