1. Spotted Black Grouper
(Epinephelus daemelii)
.
The spotted black The maximum they grow to is at
grouper belongs to the family Serranidae. least 122 cm in length and weigh about 34
They can only be found in southeast kg. Around mainland New Zealand
Australia, Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, spotted black grouper are relatively
Lord Howe, Norfolk Islands and northern common on shallow reefs at Three Kings
New Zealand. They are usually found in Islands and along Northland’s rocky
rocky reefs, in estuaries and on the open east coast. Small juveniles have been
coast. They are likely to be found in at recorded as far south as Hokitika on the
least 50m depth. west coast, and Pourerere, Central
Hawke’s Bay on the east.
Spotted black grouper are
Adults feed mainly on other fully protected in New
fish and squid, though the Zealand. People are
younger fish feed on encouraged not to catch
crustaceans and especially them as they are an
shrimp endangered species.
Spotted black groupers
are coloured grayish or dark greenish
brown on the head and body, with a bit of
strangely shaped yellow or white spots.
Amazingly, when spotted underwater, they
change colour depending on what mood
they are in, ( dark when territorial) when
startled( very pale barred pattern).
By Anjas Bhogal

2. !"#$!#%#$
(Sphenodon diversum)
Tuatara were long confined
to 32 offshore islands free of
mammals.The islands are diffi-
cult to get to, and are colonized
by few animal species. This
could mean that some animals
absent from these islands may
have caused tuatara to disap-
pear from the mainland.The re-
cent discovery of a tuatara
hatching on the New Zealand
mainland indicates that attempts
to re-establish a breeding popu-
lation on the mainland have had
some success. The total popula-
tion of tuatara of all species and
subspecies is estimated to be
greater than 60,000, but less
than 100,000.
-The tuatara is a reptile which is true to New Zealand.
-Although it looks and acts like most lizards, it is actually part of a distinct lineage, the
order Sphenodontia.
-The Tuatara has been around for at least 200 million years. Their most recent common
relatives/ancestors are lizards and snakes.
-The Tuatara is a greenish brown colour and can measure up to 80cm from head to the
tip of their tail. They can weigh up to 1.3 kilograms.
-The name ‘Tuatara’ comes from the Maori language, and means ‘ peaks on the back’.
-The tuatara is classified as vulnerable but we still have to be careful otherwise the tua-
tara could become EXTINCT!
Extra Facts...
-Tuatara are nocturnal reptiles
-They lie in the sun to warm their bodies

3. Threats:
In the 1960ʼs a ship accidently brought ship
rats to South Cape Island, one of three
islands the saddle back inhabits. The rats
rapidly spread to the other two islands. In
the last decade the saddleback population
has gone through a severe population
bottle-neck (meaning the number of
saddebacks got really low) and they are
gentically weaker.
DOCʼs work:
DOC has created a program to protect and
preserve the saddleback by keeping them in
secure locations with no pests like rats and
possums by setting traps and fencing of the
entire area. there are also people who look
after the birds in secure locations.
Facts about the Saddle Back:
there are only 650 saddle back birds left in the
world.
male saddle backs have larger wattles than
females.
females grow up to 70 cm but males grow up to
80 cm long.
saddle backs are very vocal birds.
References:
google/google images (www.google.co.nz)
DOC website (www.doc.govt.nz)
By Oliver Tyler.

4. A sub - species of the Hectors Dolphin.
Population: 111 (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui)
Maui’s dolphins are
The threats to Maui’s
easily recognised
dolphins include:
by their distinctive
Fishing, boat strikes
grey, white and
and pollution, if
black markings,
these do not directly
they also have a
kill the dolphin then it
rounded dorsal fin.
will probably affect The dolphins are found
the breeding on the West Coast of The Maui’s dolphin is able to
process, these the North Island, they make a broad range of sounds
due to nasal airsacs located
things are what are among New below the blowhole three
makes the Maui’s Zealand’s rarest sounds are used: whistles
dolphin the rarest species, these stats burst - pulsed sounds and
clicks.
dolphin in the world. are caused mostly by
fishing nets.
Maui’s dolphins have
been observed
playing with seaweed
play fighting and DOC (Department of
The dolphin is blowing bubbles. Conservation) has set
internationally up an organisation
listed as a critically towards the help of
endangered Maui’s and Hector’s
species which dolphin and are
means that there is influenced by the
a high chance that Hector’s and Maui’s
in the near future Dolphins Threat
There have been reports of Management Plan.
they could easily people seeing Maui’s dolphins
become extinct. at river mouths, but not very
many have been spotted
anywhere else in New Zealand.

5. Haast Eagle
Harpagormis moorei
The Haast Eagle was a species of
eagle native to the South Island of
New Zealand. It was the largest bird
of prey ever known to man. The
Haast Eagle’s wingspan was small
compared to its body size so it
relied more on flapping in fight
rather than gliding.
Behaviour
As the Haast Eagle was more used to flapping
than gliding this made it very difficult for it
to fly while searching for prey. So, the eagle
preferred the method of finding a high tree
branch or outcrop of rock and waiting for
prey to come to them. Then the eagle would
dive at the prey at nearly 80km an hour and
slam into it. It would then grab the prey with
one of its powerful legs and delivering a
devastating kick to the head with the other.
The Eagle’s main prey was the moa and when
Maori came and killed off the moa, the Haast
Eagle died out soon afterwards.
Physical Characteristics
Female Haast Eagles were slightly
larger in size compared to the male.
The wingspan of the Eagle was
relatively small measuring between 2.6
and 3 metres. This small wingspan aided
the eagle while hunting though
scrubland and forests. The female
weighed 10-15kg and the male 9-12kg.
The eagle was only able to take-off due
to its hugely powerful legs. The tail of
the eagle was almost certainly half a
metre long. This countered the
disadvantages of having a smaller
wingspan.
By Timothy Mitchell

6. Black Robin Petroica traversi
By Darryl Fong
The Black Robin (Petroica traversi)
is a native New Zealand bird. It is
found at an island called Chatham
Island of the east coast of New
Zealand. They prefer to live in the
woods since the trees shelter them
from the strong winds as they can not
fly in rough weather conditions.
This bird has very strong and
fast legs which it can use to help
it catch insects. The Black Robin
is a small bird, about the size of a
sparrow. It normally feeds on
wetas and other insects. When it
eats at night or the morning it
makes singing noises at the
same time. The Black Robin lives
up to six to thirteen years old.
When they travel to different
areas they fly from tree to tree as
they do not fly long distances.
This bird was nearly extinct as there
were only 5 that survived at Little
Mangere Island in the 1980ʼs but now
the total stands at 250. This bird was
saved by a wildlife service team from
extinction. These birds are currently
being protected by the wildlife service as
they are close to extinction and they
canʼt hunt in strong winds in the wild. All
the Robins have similar DNA which
means a disease could kill them all.