Nicola Toki
Critter of the Week: Purple people eater jellyfish
Today (Nov 3) is World Jellyfish Day - a day to celebrate these remarkable sea creatures that have been around for around 500 million years and are older than the dinosaurs! The purple people eater… Audio
Bird of the Century voting opens
Bird of the Year is back - only this year, it's Bird of the Century. Forest and Bird is turning 100, and it is celebrating with the native birds that have captured our hearts over the years.
Voting… Audio
Critter of the Week: The Canterbury scree cicada
Summer is on its way and that means our cicadas are crawling their way out of the ground to sing up a storm. Did you know Aotearoa is home to the world's only alpine cicadas? It's the Canterbury scree… Audio
Critter of the Week: The Hobbit Psyllid
You might find this tiny critter in a kowhai tree near you. The hobbit psyllid takes its scientific name from Frodo Baggins as both are smaller than their relations. It's also found in the South… Audio
Critter of the Week: Vampire Squid
The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) might sound scary, but it's more like a soft-bodied floating Christmas tree than a blood-sucking creature of the night. This deep-sea creature has some… Audio
Critter of the Week: Vagrant spiders
The vagrant spiders are unique to Aotearoa. They are big and hairy, and they like to roam around in search of a meal. When they're not wandering around at night in native forests or suburban gardens… Audio
Critter of the Week: Taramea
The spiky leaves and flowers of taramea or golden speargrass are famous for their power to draw blood (even through gaiters!). But if you can get past the spike, you'll encounter one of the most… Audio
Calls for urgent action over exploding pest population
Three unlikely bedfellows have joined forces - calling for urgent action over what they say is an exploding population of browsing pests across the country.
Federated Farmers, the New Zealand… Audio
Critter of the Week: Brewer's Yeast
This Sunday, September 17, is International Microorganism Day and we're celebrating by talking about brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Humans have been putting this yeast to work since ancient… Audio
Critter of the Week matata / NZ fernbird
The matata or New Zealand fernbird is a secretive little bird with a big attitude. Despite being the size and weight of a mouse, they're not afraid to hunt for blowflies on the back of a sleeping sea… Audio
Critter of the Week: Beauveria bassiana
The icing sugar fungus, Beauveria bassiana, is a stealthy member of the fungi kingdom. When it comes into contact with an insect or another invertebrate, it invades the critter and starts growing… Audio
Critter of the Week: The Manaia Pygmy pipehorse
The Manaia pygmy pipehorse, Cylix tupareomanaia, is a tiny candy cane critter unique to the coastal waters of Te Tai Tokerau Northland. Audio
Critter of the Week: The Common Bag Moth
This week's critter is the common bag moth, Liothula omnivora. These drab little critters are found all over the country hanging from fenceposts, branches and even letterboxes. The caterpillars spin… Audio
The Week in Detail: Bank fraud, broken roads and the kākāpō
The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio
Critter of the Week: New Zealand earthworm
This week's critter is a bioluminescent member of our underground network of soil engineers. We're talking about the New Zealand earthworm, Octochaetus multiporus. Audio
The charismatic kākāpō is booming, but its friends need help
Having kākāpō in the North Island wilderness again is an historic win for our native manu, but conservationists say other species are at risk of falling through the cracks. Audio
Bird of the century
The Bird of the Year contest is cancelled for 2023.
The annual poll run by Forest and Bird has had some tumultuous moments: voting scandals, a bat (a mammal!) winning, and a competition favourite… Audio
Critter of the Week Kareao / supplejack
Kareao is native to Aotearoa. While it can be frustrating to navigate through, the plant is incredibly useful - it can be eaten, woven, used as a rope or even used to make kites. Audio
Critter of the Week: Banks Peninsula tree weta
This week's critter is the rarest of our seven tree weta species (Hemideina). The Banks Peninsula tree weta (Hemideina ricta) is only found in a 200km2 patch of remnant native bush on Banks Peninsula… Audio
Critter of the Week: The Sea Butterfly
Sea butterflies are the flying snails of the sea. They belong to the scientific order Pteropoda - which means 'wing-foot' in Ancient Greek - because of the wing-like 'foot' they flap to swim. Audio