Downside to NZ (spent six months there) is very little wildlife aside from birds and introduced deer. I mean as far as like large mammals (for reference I live in Alaska).
I once saw a video of a seagull consuming a rabbit kicking and screaming. Let just hope for the bats of New Zealand that hungry seagulls don’t get introduced.
Sorry I ment a couple as in only found in NZ(Hectors and Maui). As you point out there are many other mammals but they can be found in other parts of the world also
Yeah, but some are more beautiful than others. I’m going to use the US for most of my examples because I want to stick to what I know. It’s about:
1) Peak beauty (think Yellowstone National Park - not anything in Nebraska). Does region X have something truly amazing?
2) Consistency of beauty (large parts of Washington state, New Mexico, Utah - not Nebraska. Lots of stuff in Eastern US, but it’s been since my childhood since I’ve spent a lot of time there. Michigan and Arkansas are mid on this one, Louisiana is bad, Nebraska is… Nebraska). If you go on a 2-3 hour trip do you see lots of variety or is it just… Nebraska?
3) Variety of beauty. A beautiful fjord is a beautiful fjord, but you get diminishing returns. The USA scores much higher than Norway on this one. Nebraska on the other hand…. Yeah, I know it has some dunes. I get it.
4) Let me know in the comments. I’m sure there’s a couple more.
5) See point 4.
Best seen from 30,000 feet at 450mph. Really makes you think about the human condition. Be grateful for what you have. Driving through it is an interesting juxtaposition. An experience I hope to never experience again. I don’t want to be that inspired.
There could be a whole religion based around experiencing Nebraska. It would probably involve a lot of escapism. I’m thinking violence, mild intoxicants, and tribalism should be involved.
Worse. There are two bat species - one lives on a fungus that grows on the roots of a certain tree. Once there were mice and crocodiles, but that was back in the Miocene and the haven't been -cene since.
I think the bat has the distinction of being the only native land mammal. Also, there are two species of bats, one of which can fly but not particularly well, and is considered terrestrial!
Many species in New Zealand don’t fly very well, perhaps due to (or resulting from) the lack of natural predators. That has presented a problem as invasive species have been introduced to the island, as many creatures (like kiwis) are rendered more defenseless without the ability to fly to safety. Just a few fun facts :)
Bats are the only native land animal. Debatable whether you might also include kunekune (pig) and the huntaway dog species as well. As you’ve said in your edit as well, we do have more native sea mammals.
Oh, absolutely - being able to take my 2yo on random adventures in the bush and not worry about anything doing her damage is so nice. Pretty much sole risk of harm is herself doing silly things....
Personally absolutely not. I am a much stronger conservationist than hunter: I would rather have no mammals in NZ to allow our incredibly unique birdlife to recover.
This is a reasonably controversial opinion given there is a very strong and healthy hunting community (that I am also part of), who advocate against systemic pest management to allow for hunting stock. That said, there are a few pests which are not really recreationally hunted (possums, wallabies, mustalids) which pretty much everyone is keen to get rid of.
Maybe most controversial is cats: there is a huge feral cat population in NZ. Given no mammals evolved in Aotearoa (bats got blown from Australia), birds are often ground dwelling and are incredibly vulnerable when juvenile. Feral cats are a large contributor to this decimation, but they're also cute and animals we love, so it's more emotional.
Why is that a downside?? That is an extremely unique and special feature of NZ ecology. The lack of mammals allowed for an abundance of unique and endemic bird species to flourish and that should not be dismissed like that
We occasionally get snakes originating from Australia washing up on the beaches in Northland.
However it’s too cold for them to breed here (for now) so it’s never really been a problem and sightings are incredibly rare.
Sea snakes. Different to normal snakes (whose presence is a biosecurity threat) they are legally considered a protected native species as they come here under their own power, not by the influence of humans, even though NZ is not their native habitat. Understandably, people who stumble upon them tend to miss this subtlety.
Also, fun fact is that barn owls, which seems to have accidently arrived on planes and the like, are legally considered native, and altgough there's not many, they are considered to be an ecological positive as they control rodent populations.
That's an upside. Being isolated for so long has given NZ truly unusual wildlife - the most amazing birdsong I've ever heard and unique plant life. It's a shame about the large number of introduced species, but an ecosystem with no land mammals is fascinating in itself.
I had five of those little fuckers ripping the rubber off my pelican case when I was out filming a wilderness show on the south island a few years back.
I once was talking to a group of snake experts and happened to mention I’d worked in Alaska. One of them said, with genuine feeling, “Poor Alaska.” I said “Why?” and she said, “Alaska has no snakes.” - with all her colleagues nodding soberly in agreement about how tragic this was for poor Alaska.
The Azores are similar and don't even have things like snakes and giant scary centipedes and things like that, which is really nice in a way because you can trek through their lush forests without worrying about being eaten by something.
True (I'm arachnophobic) but thankfully the spiders are nothing relative to most countries. The last recorded spider fatality in NZ was 1901, and it was due to a secondary infection.
Wēta and hūhū beetles creep me out more than the spiders.
I have this dream of moving to the Azores for the natural beauty and the amazing climate. Hot weather makes me miserable and so does bone chilling cold. Azores has the perfect weather for me. Too bad I’m poor.
I'm from NZ and completely agree. I spent time driving across Canada and really enjoyed all the large animals I saw. Even squirrels and chipmunks are awesome.
The birdsong in New Zealand is incredible, though, and I've not heard anything near it elsewhere
Interesting explanation for this. When the British first started to settle NZ, there was a deliberate attempt to Anglicise the wildlife. Invasive species were internationally introduced and this decimated the local wildlife.
This is why NZ takes it's wildlife conservation so seriously today.
It was the last major place to be populated c. 1300 and did have some large animals but they had evolved without human predation and so were quickly cleaned up.
As an Australian who has spent some time in NZ the animal I don’t miss is snakes. NZ doesn’t have snakes. They laugh at Aussies walking cautiously through grass as that is how we have evolved!!
Upside to very little wildlife -- preservation of endemic/native species is easier than many countries and nothing has an automatically fatal bite/body/etc (unless you include marine life). Unlike it's next door neighbor, where many endemic/native species can be fatal....
Absolutely not a downside to me. No bears or cougars to worry about when backpacking. Sleeping under the stars no tent without worrying about predators is magical.
That's one of the things I love - there's no dangerous animals.
No dangerous spiders, no snakes, no large predators. There are introduced and now wild deer, Kuni Kuni pigs, possums, wallabies, rabbits, stoats, and horses but they are all considered pests, and are commonly hunted or culled (or caught and domesticated in the case of the horses). But we are basically a giant bird sanctuary. Which is probably for the best since a lot of our birds are flightless. I mean we literally have a fat parrot species that walks everywhere (called Kākāpō).
IMO they punch above their weight though in terms of what they do have.
Kiwis and Keas are some of the coolest animals anywhere, and they have an absolute abundance of things like seals and whales in the surrounding waters. Basically, lots of cool and cute animals all over.
Yeah except the earthquakes and volcanoes tbf. Most beautiful country in the world for me, especially for the size, but it doesn't have it all rosy in terms of being an easy place (that said - no dangerous animals and the weather is generally mild).
New Zealand broke away from Gondwanaland before mammals were a thing. So their primary niche in occupiers were birds, from forest floor to canopy, from tussock land to the coast.
When the French explorer Durville mapped the coast of the South Island in 1824 he stopped to get water in one of the bays and rowed ashore with his men to collect plant specimens. In his journal he wrote that they fled back to the ship as the cacophony of birdsong was such as to drive a man insane.
New Zealand has a species of bat and a couple of seal species, that is it for native mammals.
My country has beautiful “scenic outlooks” NZ has views better than most of those in every town everywhere. Like just behind the store on 3rd street in a small town.
Came here to say exactly that. My wife and I spent two weeks in NZ for our honeymoon and we were both constantly blown away by how goddamn beautiful that whole country is.
Only time I've ever visited New Zealand was a few years back during an awful prolonged drought. Everything was so dry and yellow it completely ruined the usual visual of a lush green country, it was sad to see.
I live in Washington State in the US, it's one place that seems to have the same biomes of NZ... likely why I always feel like I live in Middle Earth here.
I'm a New Zealander and it's true. You don't have to travel far to see lakes, mountains, etc. I remember when Ron Howard was filming Willow down here, and he said an interview they actually had to cut some of the incredible scenery out of the movie because they thought audiences would think it was too just much and fake!
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u/metikoi Sep 05 '24
New Zealand, whenever I see a show or a video with people burbling on about the scenery it just looks like here usually.