Formerly a natural bird sanctuary, New Zealand is the last country in the world to be inhabited by humans. A few species of bats are the only indigenous mammals to New Zealand. Other mammals arrived with the people. These include farm animals (cattle, deer, and sheep), domestic animals (dogs and cats) and pest like rats, stout and possum.
This could explain the current ration of animals (95%) to humans (5%) - one of the lowest humans to animal ratios in the world. New Zealand is home to nearly 4.8 million people and over 30 million sheep, 10 million cattle, and nearly 2 million farmed deer.
Don't let the country's small size fool you. New Zealand animals also hold many world records including largest, smallest, heaviest, oldest and a few surprises.
Which Is Your Favorite New Zealand Bird? All Comments Welcome
Interesting bits of info! I really enjoyed it!:)
Nice article! You reminded this expat about all the things I love about my home country. Thanks!
The penguin sleeping in the little shelter is so cute. Nice to find you here:-) I'm just getting started.
Very interesting article. I had to vote for the penguins.
I had to choose penguin. Something so adorable about them!
How can you choose just one favorite NZ bird? The Kiwi is iconic, the penguins are cute and the Pukeko are just quirky!
I had no idea that New Zealand was the last country populated by humans and other mammals. Very interesting! My favorite bird of New Zealand would be a tie between penguins and kiwis.