Latest news with #SouthernAlps
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Grainy phone footage leads to rediscovery of lost species after 46 years
Incredible video taken by a hunter has overturned 46 years of thinking about the extinction of a flightless bird on mainland New Zealand Aotearoa. It had been thought little spotted kiwi (also known as kiwi pukupuku) only survived on small islands and protected areas where it was translocated following significant declines. Luke Hill had been part of a crew tasked with controlling tahr, an invasive species of fast-moving alpine sheep that has adapted to the rugged 46,500-hectare Adams Wilderness Area in the Southern Alps, and if numbers go unchecked, they can destroy plants that provide food and shelter for native species. Like Australia, New Zealand is overrun with feral animals, and it was the attacks from stoats, cats, and ferrets, and dogs, combined with habitat destruction, that led to the decline of the little spotted kiwi. It was close to midnight, and Hill was making his way down to camp through 'tough bush' when he spotted the rare bird. Thinking quickly, Hill whipped out his mobile phone and began to film. The video he took that night (seen below) is grainy, and it's only just possible to make out the small bird behind a fallen log. Related: Concern as rare birds retreat to mountains where giant moa became extinct There are five species of kiwi, and because Hill has a background in conservation, he immediately knew he wasn't looking at one of the common ones. But he was yet to understand the 'magnitude' of his sighting. Hill's footage contained enough information to excite the Department of Conservation, and it choppered out a ranger and his sniffer dog to the remote location. Ranger Iain Graham's mission was to catch one of the birds and extract some of its tiny feathers for DNA testing. Out in the sodden wilderness, he could hear the kiwis 'duetting', distinct calls between a male and female. But the birds proved too fast to catch. 'We were in rough terrain, in typical west coast weather, and I was running out of dry clothes,' he said. With time running out, they captured the female on their final night. He then returned with a colleague and tracked down the male, and both have been fitted with transmitters. All kiwi species are threatened with extinction. Unmanaged populations are declining by two per cent every year. Their eggs are roughly six times bigger than those laid by most birds their size. The last time a little spotted kiwi was seen on the mainland in the wild was 1978. That year, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta became a global sensation after the release of the movie Grease, disco songs by the Bee Gees were topping the charts, and the total population of New Zealand was just over 3.1 million people. Rare animal hiding in outback photo helps solve decades-long mystery Tourists 'totally outraged' by fishing crew's confronting act at sea Emily King, the leader of the Kiwi Recovery Group, said the rediscovery this year was 'thrilling' for the conservation world. 'Despite years of targeted searching, we hadn't found them until now,' she said. 'We're grateful to the hunter for reporting this and capturing evidence. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, but he pointed us to the right patch to start searching.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- The Guardian
Remote and accessible: cycling New Zealand's West Coast Wilderness Trail
New Zealand's remote West Coast Wilderness Trail is something of an oxymoron: accessibly wild. It sounds nonsensical, but that's exactly the experience. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The gently undulating gravel trail in the country's most sparsely populated region is not only a beginner-friendly cycle, it's also enjoyed by people with a wide range of physical abilities. Natalie Gauld, 58, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2022, has completed the West Coast Wilderness Trail multiple times and contributed to the trail's accessible ride guide. 'It makes me feel capable,' said Gauld on a phone call before my trip. 'I enjoy its remoteness.' The 133km trail from Ross to Greymouth (or vice versa) is one of 23 Ngā Haerenga Great Rides of New Zealand. It's in the West Coast region, a narrow strip of land roughly 600km long wedged between the frozen Southern Alps and the palm-fringed Tasman Sea. Its diverse ecosystems bizarrely buddy up: icy slopes and glacial rivers with steamy rainforests and pebbly beaches. Viewing the world from handlebars is the way my husband, Paul, and I typically like to travel. Long, short, challenging, easy-going; we're not fussy once we're immersed in the landscape on two wheels. Having said that, we are not fans of lugging our kit or working out the best places to stop, eat and sleep. So we joined three other riders on a five-day supported journey with cycling and walking specialists Adventure South NZ, who took care of the tedious logistics and planned snack stops and short side hikes to several West Coast scenic spots. A bridge closure meant we had to slice off the first 15km or so and saddle up on the road outside Hokitika in the lashing rain. 'A real West Coast welcome,' said our tour guide, Tereza Unzeitigova. The soggy start was forgiven as soon as we ducked into the protection of a mossy native rainforest. The West Coast is the only part of New Zealand where significant tracts of lowland rainforest remain, which includes giant podocarp trees that hark back to Gondwanaland. The boardwalk traverses Lake Mahinapua's wetlands, where the soundtrack was a sonic experience all its own. For the unversed, like me, it could have been anything from swans, ducks and royal spoonbills to bellbirds, tūī, kererū or cuckoos. A coastal hug back to our accommodation in Hokitika completed the first 20km. ''Coasters' have to be more self-reliant because we're geographically isolated,' said Adventure South NZ host Rob Pieper, who served the group a paddock-to-plate dinner of zucchini soup, organic beef goulash and vegetarian dahl with rice that evening at their architecturally designed off-grid home. 'If we have an earthquake, we could be on our own for months.' Pieper and his wife, Col, prepare cyclists' meals for the tour group. It is a natural fit for the delightful tandem-riding couple originally from the Netherlands, who – along with managing their smallholding, situated on the coast at Ruatapu in a rare white heron habitat – 'make it work' by guiding, nursing, catering and school-bus driving. After a restful night at the Beachfront hotel in Hokitaka, we got a bird's eye view of the native forest on a walk in the treetops, before continuing the ride on a narrow trail alongside the babbling waters of the Kaniere water race. Before my trip, Gauld told me she can pedal her Motom here after 'pinch points' on the trail were widened. Following a homemade lunch in a repurposed woolshed with Rob and Col, we spent the remainder of the day riding the shores of Lake Kaniere and hiking into the azure awe of Hokitika Gorge. Its glacial waters carry precious pounamu (greenstone) from the mountains down to the sea. Time-poor doctors Nikhil Patel, 36, and Anvi Butala, 31, chose the trail because it packs multiple experiences into a relatively short trip. In preparation for the ride, Butala found a hill near where she lives and rode it 10 times in one training session, she told me. It helped her get to the top of a sunny 400m climb on day three. There, the deserted oddity of Cowboy's Paradise plateau served a collection of ramshackle buildings split by a broad dusty road. The forest trail down from the plateau to Kumara was fun, fast and flowy. That night we stayed at the Theatre Royal, the West Coast's only fully restored gold miners' hotel with creaky floors and cheekily named rooms such as 'King Dick'. On the final day, the icy crown of Akoari/Mount Cook came into view behind deserted, driftwood-laden beaches where blue penguins – the world's smallest – hang out. A gusty finish around the harbour to Greymouth had us battling to keep our bikes upright. It didn't deter 53-year-old road cyclist Litza Reed from Perth, who hired a hybrid bike for the trail. She said she's buying a mountain bike as soon as she gets home. Though the trail was over, the journey wasn't: we still had the 30-million-year-old Pancake Rocks and Blowholes to marvel at, plus a meander along the tranquil trails of Paparoa national park, and a 20km pedal to break up our van journey back over the Alps to Christchurch the following day. Our only criticism of the West Coast Wilderness Trail: we wish it were longer. But fortunately, we have 22 other New Zealand Great Rides to explore. Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia, Emirates and Qantas operate direct flights into Christchurch from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The TranzAlpine train (from $219) runs between Christchurch and Greymouth. Adventure South NZ trips include an optional van shuttle service from Christchurch to Greymouth. For mobility-impaired passengers, wheelchair hoists provide access to the cafe carriage from track level. Adventure South NZ has electric pedal-assist e-bikes for hire. Their comprehensive FAQs0 include required fitness levels. The Pounamu Pathway is a wheelchair-accessible immersive cultural experience in Greymouth. The West Coast Treetop Walk has a wheelchair-accessible cafe and walkway. West Coast Scenic Waterways eco cruise boat and accommodation are wheelchair accessible. The writer's Adventure South NZ trip was discounted
RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
The award winning film Southern Alps traverse
Waiatoto follows a seven-day east-to-west adventure across the Main Divide - with the three-man team travelling on packraft, skis and on foot. Charlie Murray, Jasper Gibson and Nick Pascoe set off from the Matukituki valley and made their way across rugged terrain to the Tasman Sea via the Volta Glacier. Along the way, the group battled through snow drifts and took in epic scenery on the slopes beneath Mount Aspiring/Tititea. The 22-minute film is part of the NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival . For their efforts, the filmmakers have been awarded the Hiddleston/ MacQueen Award and $2500 prizemoney for the Best NZ-made Film at the festival. Kathryn is joined by Jasper Gibson, who was on this incredible adventure, and Wanaka-based film-maker Josh Morgan, who was brought onto the project after the fact thinking he was going to make a YouTube short - but ended up making a prize-winning film. Short film Waiatoto tells the story of a traverse across the Southern Alps through packraft, skis and tramping. Photo: JASPER GIBSON
Forbes
25-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Most Extreme Solar Storm Hit Earth 14,350 Years Ago
Illustration of a solar storm impacting the Earth. Scientists have discovered a huge spike in radiocarbon levels 14,300 years ago by analyzing ancient tree-rings. The radiocarbon spike was caused by a massive solar storm, the biggest ever identified. In the study, Postdoctoral Researcher Kseniia Golubenko and Professor Ilya Usoskin at the University of Oulu, Finland utilized their newly developed chemistry–climate model called SOCOL:14C-Ex, specifically designed to reconstruct solar particle storms under ancient glacial climate conditions. The model confirmed that the detected solar event was approximately 18 percent stronger than the notorious AD 775 event — until now the strongest solar storm ever recorded in tree-ring archives. 'Compared to the largest event of the modern satellite era — the 2005 particle storm — the ancient 12,350 BCE event was over 500 times more intense, according to our estimates', says Dr. Golubenko. Other large solar storms have occurred around 7,176 BCE, 5,259 BCE, 663 BCE and 994 AD. A few other candidates are still under investigation. The new chronology used wood samples recovered from the Drouzet River in the Southern French Alps. Here the river is cutting into ancient sediments, exposing fossil tree stumps dating back some 14,300 years. Looking at the individual tree-ring allows researchers to reconstruct environmental and chemical changes for almost every year the tree lived. By stacking sections of different trees together, scientists can reconstruct a tree-ring record spanning many thousands of years. Coronal mass ejections or flares are powerful outbursts of high-energy particles. When such a flare hits Earth, it can cause a solar storm. The particles coming from the sun collide with gases in Earth's atmosphere, forming new isotopes like the radioactive beryllium-10 and carbon-14 (or radiocarbon). Trees absorb these isotope, creating an isotopic record with their tree-rings. 'The ancient event in 12,350 BCE is the only known extreme solar particle event outside of the Holocene epoch, the past 12,000 years of stable warm climate', says Golubenko. This discovery is not only of great importance to better understand the how frequent extreme solar flares are, but also improves the use of radiocarbon to date archeological and biological samples. 'Our new model lifts the existing limitation to the Holocene and extends our ability to analyze radiocarbon data even for glacial climate conditions.' 'Miyake events (distinct spikes in past radiocarbon levels) allow us to pin down exact calendar years in floating archaeological chronologies', explains Usoskin. Radiocarbon signals from such events have already enabled researchers to precisely date Viking settlements in Newfoundland and Neolithic communities in Greece. The largest, directly-observed, solar storm occurred in 1859 and is known as the Carrington Event. Polar lights were observed during daylight as far as the equator. At the time, long before mobile telecommunications and the widespread use of electronic devices, damage was fortunately quite solar storm recorded in the fossil trees was an estimated ten to hundred times more powerful. Today the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center monitors solar activity and its impact on our infrastructure. Electronics with no electromagnetic shielding are still at a high risk of interference and jamming. A similar massive event happening today could be catastrophic for our technology-based society. The study,"New SOCOL:14C-Ex model reveals that the Late-Glacial radiocarbon spike in 12350 BC was caused by the record-strong extreme solar storm," was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Additional material and interviews provided by the University of Oslo.
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Celebrating The Sublime: Look Out Wins 2025 NZ Mountain Book Of The Year
Press Release – NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival Look Out is an artistic collaboration that celebrates the sublimity of New Zealands SouthernAlps by two well-known New Zealand artists, Euan Macleod and Craig Potton. Lake Wānaka, New Zealand (23 May 2025) – Euan Macleod and Craig Potton have been selected as the winners of the 2025 Nankervis/Bamford NZ Mountain Book of the Year award for their book Look Out. The $2,000 grand prize is awarded in the NZ Mountain Book Competition as part of the long-running NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival. Look Out is an artistic collaboration that celebrates the sublimity of New Zealand's Southern Alps by these two well-known New Zealand artists. Two friends, painter Euan Macleod and photographer Craig Potton, are both drawn to the high mountains around Aoraki/Mt Cook in the central core of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 'Here is a mountain art book that is not over-endowed with words though there is a long introductory essay to set the scene,' explains judge Marjorie Cook. The task for readers then is to observe and reflect on what stories could be revealed in mountain paintings (MacLeod) and photographs (Potton). Such is the subjective nature of art, there is unlikely to be just one story. One moment the mountains and the mountain men look murderously scary, deathly and cold. Next, they appear soft, warm and comfortable.' 'I thank the organisers of the NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival and am truly delighted and grateful Euan and I have won the Mountain Book of the Year with Look Out,' says Potton. He continues, 'We have both gotten more than we will ever know from the Southern Alps and even at our advanced ages we find ourselves at Aoraki, in the throne room of the mountain gods, with the same awe, amazement and joy of the sublime that we have felt from our first trips there so long ago. It was our hope that our art might convey something of that connection to the mountain wilderness and your nod to our book has vindicated that hope.' The overall prize for the Nankervis/Bamford NZ Mountain Book of the Year is awarded for a book that brings the mountain experience into the hearts and minds of the reader and leaves people with a knowledge of, and respect for, the place the mountains play in the human and physical worlds. Potton explains that the award has a special meaning for him. 'For me it is very special and poignant that this generous prize has been established as part of the wonderful legacy my friend Nank bequeathed to our mountaineering community. When first heading to the Southern Alps I was inspired by Nank and Dave Bamford's forays on the western side of the central Southern Alps when they were pushing up great original lines. In those days it was the epitome of wilderness climbing. Nank became a friend, opening my book launch and exhibition on my Nepal book and during my tenure on the Conservation Authority when he was serving on the Tongariro National Parks Board. We frequently talked conservation issues. He knew the Conservation Act inside out and had such a big heart for the places and people we were trying to protect …. a most likeable humorous and generous man … To have won this award in honour of Nank's legacy is a highlight in my publishing path.' The Mountain Book Competition covers literature on the world's remote places, expedition tales and stories about people and their adventures. Submissions were invited for two categories: Mountain and Adventure Narrative for stories and accounts about specific adventures (non-fiction); and Mountain and Adventure Heritage for guidebooks, coffee table or picture books, history books, analyses, reflections on culture, environments or ethics and advocacy. The Heritage Award goes to Kahurangi by Dave Hansford. The book is a celebration of the biodiversity of Kahurangi National Park, Northwest Nelson and Golden Bay. Energised by ancient, complex geology and a multitude of habitats, from vast beech stands to lush coastal rainforest, from sprawling ramparts of karst and marble to extensive wetlands and estuaries, this region holds the greatest variety of plants and animals in the country. 'Hansford is simply a wonderful natural history writer,' says Cook. 'His first sentence, his first scene – detailing a paleolithic orgy of creatures forever fossilised in the act of getting it on – is startling and memorable. Just a warning. This book is big, meaty, dense and packed with knowledge and great images and photos. You will not be able to romp through it in one sitting.' Hansford said, 'It's gratifying to hear that others see the same wonder, the same beauty, the same lessons in Kahurangi that I see. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped me tell this story; the scientists, the rangers, the volunteers, my publisher, my editor, my wife— but especially all those gifted photographers who crafted a sprawling wilderness into exquisite pixels.' Andrew Fagan takes out the Narrative Award for his book Swirly World: Lost at Sea. Known to many as the frontman of the iconic 1980s band The Mockers, Fagan has also carved a distinct path as a solo sailor and author. In 1994 he set the record for the smallest sailing boat to sail from New Zealand to Australia, and in 2007 his NZ circumnavigation via the subantarctic Auckland Islands set the record for the smallest sailing boat to have done so. Swirly World: Lost at Sea documents his harrowing experiences and the psychological challenges faced when confronting the vast, unpredictable power of the ocean. Judge Marjorie Cook describes the book as 'a love story to a boat not much bigger than a bathtub, in which Fagan attempts to circumnavigate the globe. In delivering this very enjoyable book, Fagan weaves together past and present sailing adventure stories while having another go at 'living the dream', this time on a potent ocean of doubts. Expect to find lyrical sentences, humour, self-depreciation, and attention to detail.' Fagan said he was 'totally flattered' by the award, describing it as an 'unexpected accolade!' He adds, 'I'm looking forward to discussing the pleasures and pains of solo offshore sailing at the festival.' Fagan and Hansford will be guest speakers at the NZ Mountain Book Festival in Wānaka in June. Before selecting the winners of the 2025 NZ Mountain Book competition, the judges had a difficult task narrowing the entries down to six finalists. Head judge Allan Uren said, 'The lineup has been a real pick n mix, from surfing, skiing, tramping, sailing, climbing, even a collection of guidebooks. Notable in its absence has been pure mountaineering books. Maybe it's becoming harder for mountaineering authors to come up with anything new to say or ways to get across the essence of mountaineering. Here's hoping that's not the case. 'Production values have also been high, with dazzling photography. Some of the book covers are things of such beauty that you'd want to display them as objects of art in their own right. 'Everybody always says it is difficult to pick a winner from such a high calibre of books and that is true of this year's collection. It's unfortunate that a prize can't be given to all the authors for the amount of passion and work that obviously goes into each, and every book judged. But it makes your spirit soar to know that there is such high standard of book being produced and the festival is there to give them wings.' The 2025 finalists were: Mountain & Adventure Narrative Award Swirly World: Lost at Sea by Andrew Fagan Sam the Trap Man by Sam Gibson A Light Through the Cracks by Beth Rodden Mountain & Adventure Heritage Award Unbound: Volume 1 by Rambo Estrada Look Out by Euan Macleod and Craig Potton Kahurangi by Dave Hansford The following were Highly Commended by the judges: Northbound: Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa by Naomi Arnold Southern Faces: An Introduction to Rock Climbing in Ōtepoti Dunedin by Riley Smith Fire & Ice: Secrets, Histories, Treasures and Mysteries of Tongariro National Park by Hazel Phillips Ski Bum by Sam Masters The NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival will run in Wānaka from 20 to 24 June, in Queenstown 26 to 27 June, and films will be online in NZ and Australia throughout July. The festival's literary events include guest speakers, author readings, book signings and book launches.
