Extinction
Hunted to extinction - the Chatham Island sea lion
Within 200 years of settling the Chatham Islands, Moriori had hunted the local sea lion to extinction. What lessons can we learn from that? Audio
Barry responds to criticism of DOC funding
The Green Party says the government is woefully underfunding the Department of Conservation leaving 142 species closer to extinction. Audio
Southern right whales back from brink of extinction
Whaling in the 1800s nearly caused the extinction of southern right whales around New Zealand, and the population is slowly recovering from a low of just 110-or-so animals in the 1920s.
Survival of the oldest
Palaeontologists studying an ancient group of extinct marine plankton find surprising results about which species are vulnerable to extinction. Audio
Resurrection Science
Given the rapid advances in genetic technologies it's been speculated that everything from woolly mammoths, to passenger pigeons, to our own close cousins the Neanderthals could soon walk the earth… Audio
Native plant back from brink of extinction
A chance discovery of seeds in a garden shed has been used to save the white-flowered ngutukākā.
Hair of the kuri or Maori dog
Ecologist Cilla Wehi hopes that the hair and bones of kuri, or now extinct Maori dog, might hold clues to what they ate Audio
Study: A modern day mass extinction could be here
A group of researchers fear 75 percent of the species we know today could be lost in just two generations' time. Audio
A Devilish Cancer - Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease
In less than 20 years a rare contagious cancer has decimated Tasmanian devil numbers by 85 percent, but a vaccine may be on the way Audio
Ocean Acidification Triggers Extinction
Otago University's Dr Matthew Clarkson says ocean acidification triggered massive species extinction: a wake up call to the perils of a changing climate today. Audio
Acid oceans drove mass extinction
New research has found acidic oceans were probably to blame for the greatest mass extinction of life on Earth. Audio
Vanishing Nature
A new book presents a comprehensive analysis of New Zealand's biodiversity loss and the drivers behind it Audio
Waitaha Penguin Out, Yellow-Eyed Penguin In
A new study shows that yellow-eyed penguins colonised New Zealand within just a few decades of the Waitaha penguin becoming extinct Audio
The extinction of the Waitaha Penguin - Dr Nic Rawlence
Research from Otago University has revealed new information on a phenomena called a 'biological transition event'. That's where one species replaces another. In this case the animal in question is the… Audio
Research shows Moa died out soon after humans arrived in NZ
It's been a source of ongoing debate in New Zealand - just when, and how, did the moa go extinct? Scientists at the University of Auckland have found the large birds died out just 200 years after… Audio
Remembering Martha - Kennedy Warne
Kennedy Warne with a cautionary tale about extinct birds. Audio
Elizabeth Kolbert - extinctions
American author, and staff writer for The New Yorker, whose new book is The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Audio
Moa flourished through dramatic climate change: study
Scientists have shown the moa survived major climate change - only to be forced to extinction by the arrival of humans. Audio
The Moa Man
What did we do to the moa? Just how much did humans contribute to the big bird's demise? Those are the questions researchers hope to answer with a new study. Otago University anthropologist Chris… Audio
The Fate of the Moa
Moa specialist Richard Holdaway investigates whether moa populations were heathy or declining before the arrival of people. Audio