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Orana Wildlife Park
Orana Wildlife Park is New Zealand's only open-range zoo, sitting on 80 hectares of land, located on the outskirts of Christchurch. It opened in 1976, and is owned and operated by the Orana Wildlife Trust, a registered charity. The aims of the Trust are to provide quality recreational opportunities for local people and visitors to Christchurch; conserve endangered native and exotic wildlife; educate visitors (especially children) about environmental and conservation issues; and support research relating to endangered animals. Orana generates over 95% of its income through gate takings and other trading activities. Fundraising is an essential focus; Orana must separately raise 100% of funds for all capital projects, improvements and animal transfers. Funds have been donated from a variety of sources, including philanthropic trusts, private donors and bequests. As of 2017, over $15M has been raised to develop the Park. All buildings and enclosures except the Great Ape Centre have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south. The first inhabitants migrated to the area sometime between 1000 and 1250 AD. They hunted moa, which led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterbuck
The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies are grouped under two varieties: the common or ellipsiprymnus waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck. The head-and-body length is typically between and the typical height is between . In this sexually dimorphic antelope, males are taller and heavier than females. Males reach roughly at the shoulder, while females reach . Males typically weigh and females . Their coat colour varies from brown to grey. The long, spiral horns, present only on males, curve backward, then forward, and are long. Waterbucks are rather sedentary in nature. As gregarious animals, they may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. These groups are either nursery herds with females and their offspring or bachelor herds. Males start showing territorial behaviou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malherbe%27s Parakeet
Malherbe's parakeet (''Cyanoramphus malherbi''), usually known as the orange-fronted parakeet ( mi, kākāriki karaka), is a small parrot endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is always known as the orange-fronted parakeet, a name it shares with a species from Central America, while in the rest of the world it is known as Malherbe's parakeet.BirdLife International (2016Species factsheet: ''Cyanoramphus malherbi''.Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 2016/03/23 Restricted to a few valleys in the South Island and four offshore islands, its population declined to around 200 in the 1990s, and it is considered critically endangered. Taxonomy The genus ''Cyanoramphus'' is endemic to New Zealand and surrounding islandsKearvell, J; Grant, A; Boon, W (2003). "The orange-fronted parakeet (''Cyanoramphus malherbi'') is a distinct species: a review of recent research on its taxonomy and systematic relationship within the genus ''Cyanoramphus"''. ''Notornis'', 50: 27–35 and it has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Bellbird
The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. The bellbird forms a significant component of the famed New Zealand dawn chorus of bird song that was much noted by early European settlers. The explorer Captain Cook wrote of its song "it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned". Its bell-like song is sometimes confused with that of the tūī. The species is common across much of New Zealand and its offshore islands as well as the Auckland Islands. Description Males are olive-green with a dark purplish sheen on their head and black outer wing and tail, while females are a duller olive-brown with a blue sheen on the head and yellowish-white curving from the base of the bill to below the eye. Both have a notably red eye. They are about 17–20 cm from the tip of their bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morepork
The morepork (''Ninox novaeseelandiae''), also called the ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and formerly Lord Howe Island. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of these names are onomatopoeic, as they emulate the bird's distinctive two-pitched call. Three subspecies of the morepork are recognized, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population. Described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it was for many years considered to be the same species as the Australian boobook of mainland Australia until 1999. It was also considered the same species as the Tasmanian boobook of Tasmania until 2022. It has dark brown plumage with prominent pale spots, and golden-yellow eyes. It is generally nocturnal, though sometimes active at dawn and dusk, retiring to roost in secluded spots in the foliage of trees. The morepork feeds on insects and small vertebrates, hunting by pouncing on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meerkat
MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Radio Telescope in Africa, and the locally designed and built MeerKAT was incorporated into the first phase of the SKA. MeerKAT was launched in 2018. Along with the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), also in South Africa, and two radio telescopes in Western Australia, the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the MeerKAT is one of four precursors to the final SKA. History MeerKAT is a precursor for the SKA-mid array, as are the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). Description It is located on the SKA site in the Karoo, and is a pathfinder for SKA-mid technologies and science. It was design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lowland Nyala
The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described in 1849 by George French Angas. The body length is , and it weighs . The coat is maroon or rufous brown in females and juveniles, but grows a dark brown or slate grey, often tinged with blue, in adult males. Females and young males have ten or more white stripes on their sides. Only males have horns, long and yellow-tipped. It exhibits the highest sexual dimorphism among the spiral-horned antelopes. It is not to be confused with the endangered mountain nyala living in the Bale region of Ethiopia). The nyala is mainly active in the early morning and the late afternoon. It generally browses during the day if temperatures are and during the night in the rainy season. As a herbivore, the nyala feeds upon foliage, fruits and grasses, and requir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lace Monitor
The lace monitor or tree goanna (''Varanus varius'') is a member of the monitor lizard family native to eastern Australia. A large lizard, it can reach in total length and in weight. The lace monitor is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Taxonomy John White, the surgeon-general of New South Wales, described this species as the variegated lizard (''Lacerta varia'') in 1790. George Shaw reported that several specimens were taken back to England. French naturalist François Marie Daudin gave it the name ''Tupinambis variegatus'' in 1802, and noted two forms. German naturalist Blasius Merrem established the genus '' Varanus'' in 1820, with ''V. varius'' as the first mentioned member set as its type species by John Edward Gray in 1827. French zoologists André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron described two specimens in 1836, one in their possession and one from the collection of English zoologist Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kererū
The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white breast and iridescent green–blue plumage. Two subspecies have been recognised; the second—the Norfolk pigeon of Norfolk Island—became extinct in the early 20th century. Kererū pairs are monogamous, breeding over successive seasons and remaining together when not breeding. They construct nests with twigs in trees, with a single egg clutch. Found in a variety of habitats across the country, the kererū feeds mainly on fruits, as well as leaves, buds and flowers. Although widespread in both forest and urban habitats, its numbers have declined significantly since European colonisation and the arrival of invasive mammals such as rats, stoats and possums. However, the results of nationwide bird surveys indicate that there has been a sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold-striped Gecko
The gold-striped gecko, gold-stripe gecko, or golden sticky-toed gecko (''Woodworthia chrysosiretica'') is a species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae. It is endemic to New Zealand, and is only found in the Taranaki region and Mana Island. The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr .... The gold-striped geckos can grow to be 14 cm(5.51 inches) long and are brown/yellow with stripes on their backs. They are mostly nocturnal and eat small insects and invertebrates. They live in forests and bushes, but can also live on farmland and urban environments. This species does not lay eggs, instead giving birth to live young. This species was first described by J. Robb in 1980 as ''Hoplodactylus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giraffe
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis'', with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of ''Giraffa'' are known from the fossil record. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, frui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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