Nicola Toki

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

Forest & Bird is taking the Department of Conservation to court over their treatment of Kororā penguins at Kennedy Point on Waiheke Island.  

It argues the department shouldn't have issued authority… Audio

This week's critter is the critically endangered carnivorous snail Rhytida occonori that lives in just two locations in the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park. Audio

This DOC threatened species ambassador Nic Toki wants people to be able to enjoy and appreciate the nature - but maybe not love it too much. This week's critter is one that people might also want to… Audio, Gallery

Salps are gender-fluid, translucent jelly-beans which band together to form long chains, travelling the oceans in a gelatinous tunic! The world's largest salp is called the Twin-sailed Salp and was… Audio

This week's critter is the mysterious Takitimu gecko that lives in the scree slopes and subalpine forests of Southland's mountains. Audio, Gallery