autistic-af:

autistic-af:

I am freaking beyond exhausted today and stuck at work, but at least it’ll be an easy day.

Here’s a kākāpō. A flightless bird native to Aotearoa.

@birdandcatlover

ALT

Yes! They’re big chonkers. No flying for them. When approached by predators, they just freeze.

Chomky

bexx1things:

sixth-light:

swauger:

Here is a delightful bird from New Zealand called a Rifleman. They look like an angry orb. They are known for their “ZIPT” sound.

These birds are more commonly known by one of their original names, titipounamu (there are a LOT of others depending on region). It is very important you know they are so small the newly-hatched chicks are the same size as bumblebees and also they are breeding in the wild in Wellington city for the first time in a hundred years this year. Go to that link and watch the video. You will not be disappointed

milf-ray-toro:

milf-ray-toro:

milf-ray-toro:

international people start calling our country aotearoa instead of new zealand challenge

aotearoa is the te reo name for our country, commonly translated as “land of the long white cloud” as the story goes Kupe was guided to our whenua by following a long white cloud in the sky. new zealand is a name which was forced on us by colonizers who stole our precious land less than 200 years ago. by reverting back to the māori name you are metaphorically giving the land back to the tangata whenua, the people of the land, and we can begin to normalize using the proper names for things that should have always belonged to māori

heres a link to a good pronunciation, i recommend practicing saying it along to the video. but please remember that even if you cant get it perfect, say it anyway!! its better to try and get it slightly wrong than not try at all

jumpintothewaves:

Wake up, babe! New whale just dropped!!

A pregnant female whale washed up on shore of New Zealand’s Te Waipounamu,  Aotearoa on the south island back in 2011. The local tribe who found her, known as the Ngāti Māhaki, named her Nihongore and had her bones sent to Te Papa Tongarewa Museum. It was believed to be the elusive True’s beak whale, but Ramari Steward, a Maori Tohunga Tohorā (whale expert), knew this whale was different. Ramari Stewart and Dr Emma Carroll from the University of Auckland worked together on solving the mystery of this whale.

Upon closer examination, scientists realized that this was not a True’s beaked whale. Genetic analysis and the shape of the skull was different, and it is estimated that this new species broke off from the True’s beaked whale about half a million years ago. Not much is known yet about this whale, but beaked whales are deep diving mammals (probably why they weren’t spotted right away). To honor the scientist who worked on this project, the whale was named Ramari’s whale.

This discovery is significant to the Maori who have a very special connection to the Moana (sea) and to whales. Whales are considered sacred and the Maori were a seafaring people, so they naturally have acquired a decent amount of knowledge about whales. Unfortunately indigenous knowledge wasn’t taken into account in scientific studies, and was only just being considered in the scientific community. Hopefully this discover can lead to more collaboration with indigenous tribes.

Even though whales are important to the Maori, this is the first whale to have a Maori name. And the name Ramari itself means ‘rare event’, which feels appropriate. It’s an incredible honor for WoC in science, in particular indigenous women.