Nicola Toki

The last critter of 2022 is a shy and retiring orchid that's threatened by habitat loss and climate change. The copper beard orchid (Calochilus herbaceous) is a stout orchid with a generous ruby beard… Audio

This week's critter is the glow-worm hunter harvestman, Forsteropsalis photophaga. These gangly, crab-clawed arachnids live in the Waitomo Caves and subsist exclusively on a diet of glow-worms. Male… Audio

This week's critter is the pepe pouri / black mountain ringlet butterfly to help celebrate International Mountain Day, which is next Wednesday.  Audio

This week's critter is the Antarctic sea pig - a rotund pink sea cucumber that lives on the muddy seafloor of the Ross Sea. Sea pigs are like living vacuum cleaners for the ocean. They spend their… Audio

If you've ever looked at a pond and seen little bugs swimming across the surface, chances are you've seen this week's critter - the water boatman, Sigara arguta. Audio

Despite its English name, bush lawyer doesn't settle disputes in the back country. Tataramoa (which literally means 'a heap of prickles') hides its many medicinal properties behind a viscous tangle of… Audio

This week's critter lives in the twilight zone of the world's largest ecosystem and is the largest glow-in-the-dark vertebrate in the world. The kitefin shark is a powerful and solitary hunter. Audio

This weeks' critters are pale, ghostly, long-bodied invertebrates you've probably never heard of, Cave Diplurans. Audio

This week's critter has been dubbed a 'monster in a barrel' and a 'sinister squatter.' The barrel shrimp, makes its home out of transparent sea creatures like salps and jellyfish by eating out their… Audio

Caddisflies are common to healthy streams and waterways but how not many people know that we also boast some of the only marine caddisflies in the world! Audio

This week's critter is the taiko or black petrel - a vulnerable seabird that only breeds on Aotea and Hauturu-o-toi. Because they spend so long out at sea, taiko have developed a superpower! They can… Audio

We're talking ticks this week on Critter of the Week - specifically, the endangered kiwi tick, Ixodes anatis. Audio

This week's critter celebrates the blossoming kowhai that mark the start of spring, the kowhai moth (Uresiphita maorialis). Audio

This week's critter is the blue-eyed triplefin - a beautiful little fish with bright blue eyes and candy cane stripes on its body. Audio

They say once you've smelt this week's critter, you'll never forget it. We're talking about the basket fungus, Ileodictyon cibarium, which appears after Autumn rains. It has about 35 Maori names… Audio

A draft bill drawn from the ballot box last week could halt all new coal mining ventures on public conservation land.

Forest and Bird is urging everyone to support the mining ban bill - saying it… Audio

Blue sharks are curious predators found in open oceans throughout the world with the largest numbers here in the Pacific. Audio

This week's critter is a true vagabond - it lives its life blowing around in hot, dry lands, going wherever the wind takes it. Famous (amongst lichenologists) for its powers of resurrection, the… Audio