The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. It is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The Blue whale was once abundant in nearly all the Earth's oceans until the end of the 19th century. It was hunted...
The Sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the...
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea ), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to 1.8 metres and...
The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal parrot found only in New Zealand. It is the world's only flightless parrot, the world's heaviest parrot, and also is nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in...
The Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. The common name of this species refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black....
The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta ), is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around 90 cm (35 in) in carapace length when...
Described as "The bird which made the breeze to blow" the wingspan of a Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) is the longest of any bird. It lives up to its name when it takes fishing trips that last 10-20 days and can cover 10,000 km while using...
The kea (Nestor notabilis) is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in New Zealand. The kea is the world's only alpine parrot. Now uncommon, this mountain-dwelling bird was once killed for bounty due to concerns by the...
The Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of cetacean on Earth after the Blue whale. American naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews called the fin whale "the greyhound...
The ocean sunfish or common mola (Mola mola) is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, Mola alexandrini. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545...
The Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the Blue whale and the Fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas and prefers deep offshore waters. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word...
The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is the only known...
The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen. It is the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently extinct North Island takahē. Takahē...
The weka (Gallirallus australis) is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is found only in New Zealand. The common name, "weka", is a Māori word. These birds are significant to some Māori iwi (tribes) who admire their curiosity and...
The Southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora) is a large seabird from the albatross family. At an average wingspan of above 3 m (9.8 ft), it is one of the two largest species of albatross, together with the Wandering albatross.
Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori ) is one of four dolphin species belonging to the genus Cephalorhynchus. Hector's dolphin is the only cetacean endemic to New Zealand, and comprises two subspecies: C. h. hectori, the more numerous...
The New Zealand kākā (Nestor meridionalis ) is a large species of parrot of the family Nestoridae found in New Zealand's native forests. The species is often known by the abbreviated name kākā, although it shares this name with the recently extinct...
The yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes ), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand.Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (Eudyptula minor ), molecular research has shown it more...
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft). The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal...
The New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri ), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as pakake or whakahao (male) and kaki (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic...
The North Island brown kiwi is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and, with about 35,000 remaining, is the most common kiwi. It holds the world record for laying the largest eggs...
The Fiordland penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus ), also known as the Fiordland crested penguin (in Māori, tawaki or pokotiwha), is a crested penguin species endemic to New Zealand. It currently breeds along the south-western coasts of New Zealand's...
The great spotted kiwi, great grey kiwi or roroa (Apteryx haastii ) is a species of kiwi endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. The great spotted kiwi, as a member of the ratites, is flightless. It is the largest of the kiwi. The rugged...
The blue duck or whio (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos ) is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus Hymenolaimus. Its exact taxonomic status is still unresolved, but it appears to...
The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma ) also known as the grey-headed mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high...
The black robin or Chatham Island robin (Petroica traversi ) is an endangered bird from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand. It is closely related to the South Island robin (P. australis ). It was first described by Walter Buller...
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sharks reach 7.9 m (26...
The Snares penguin (Eudyptes robustus ), also known as the Snares crested penguin and the Snares Islands penguin, is a penguin from New Zealand. The species breeds on the Snares Islands, a group of islands off the southern coast of the South Island....
The erect-crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri ) is a penguin endemic to the New Zealand region and only breeds on the Bounty and Antipodes Islands. It has black upper parts, white underparts and a yellow eye stripe and crest. It spends the winter at...
The New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) is a small omnivorous species of bat. It is one of two extant and three overall mammal species unique to New Zealand. Lesser short-tailed bats have unique adaptations that differentiate...
The southern brown kiwi, tokoeka, or common kiwi (Apteryx australis ) is a species of kiwi from South Island, New Zealand. Until 2000 it was considered conspecific with the North Island brown kiwi, and still is by some authorities.
The stitchbird or hihi (Notiomystis cincta ) is a honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. Its evolutionary relationships have long puzzled ornithologists, but it is now classed as the only...
The northern royal albatross or toroa, Diomedea sanfordi, is a large seabird in the albatross family. It was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and some...
The Okarito kiwi (Apteryx rowi ), also known as the rowi or Okarito brown kiwi, is a member of the kiwi family Apterygidae, described as new to science in 2003. The species is part of the brown kiwi complex, and is morphologically very similar to...
The Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis ) is a large seabird in the albatross family. Antipodean albatrosses are smaller than wandering albatrosses, and breed in predominantly brown plumage, but are otherwise difficult to distinguish from...
The shortfin mako (; Māori: /ˈmaːko/; Isurus oxyrinchus), also known as the shortfin mako shark, blue pointer, or bonito shark, is a large mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (Isurus paucus)....
The Eurasian carp or European carp (Cyprinus carpio), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The native wild populations are considered vulnerable to...
The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is a large pelagic requiem shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. It has a stocky body with long, white-tipped, rounded fins. The species is typically solitary, though they may gather...
The Far Eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis ) is a large shorebird most similar in appearance to the long-billed curlew, but slightly larger. It is mostly brown in color, differentiated from other curlews by its plain, unpatterned brown...
The fairy tern (Sternula nereis ) is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is "Critically Endangered".There are three subspecies:Australian fairy tern,...
The spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.While these common names may apply to several species,...
The yellowhead or mōhua (Mohoua ochrocephala ) is a small insectivorous passerine bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Once a common forest bird, its numbers declined drastically after the introduction of rats and stoats, and it is now...
