Birds in the park

New Zealand's natural environment is unique. Once part of the southern super continent of 'Gondwana', it had been isolated for about 80 million years until the first humans arrived a mere 700 to 800 years ago. That event made New Zealand the last major land area on earth to receive the brunt of human contact.

What the early Polynesians found was a natural environment that had evolved in total isolation. "New Zealand is the closest we can come to studying evolution on another planet". (Jared Diamond, American biologist).

There were no mammals other than three bat species. The bird life had evolved free of predation except for a few birds of prey. There was a remarkable array of flightless birds, including the giant moa (now extinct). animals on New Zealand's remarkable bird life was devastating, but in places such as Kahurangi many species still remain and, like the plant life, most are endemic.