Hamiltonians are always working hard to protect and nurture their population of long-tailed bats - or pekapeka-tou-roa - a species under critical threat. Often this revolved around things like monitoring programs or habitat restoration initiatives, but now, even the city's infrastructure specialists have stepped in. A new suburb called Peacocke is under development, and the multi-million-dollar bridge connecting it to the city has been designed in a way to accommodate the long-tailed bat - or pekapeka-tou-roa.
Hamilton City Council's GM of infrastructure and assets Andrew Parsons talks to Jesse about the new bridge.
Numbers of the long-tail bat, or pekapeka, are down in the Waimatā Valley, according to a resident who monitors them. Photo: Colin O’Donnell / Supplied
