Some of New Zealand’s greatest celebrities aren’t human. If you’re looking for a thumbless autograph, these are the hottest animals you can find around the country.
It is no secret that New Zealand is home to the most diverse wildlife who have thrived in their natural habitats for many years. Here is a list of some of the most iconic and unique creatures, no less than celebrities themselves!
Young Ken the kea – the famously cheeky indigenous mountain parrot – has been making a name for himself in the South Island town of Nelson since June, when he interrupted a horse-riding lesson. At the time, the Department of Conservation (DoC) asked residents not to feed or play with him, worried Ken would be spoiled and unable to survive in the wild.
But Ken didn’t want to live in the wild. He is more at home with the picket fences and petunias of suburbia. He’s been spotted taunting pets, shooing humans off their own decks, and just generally “throwing things around and just having a good old play”.
There have been 12 sightings over the past month up and down the coast including in the middle of Nelson city itself. He’s recently been seen gazing longingly through windows at the people inside.
Mittens is a large Turkish Angora cat that reigns over central Wellington with a furry fist. Mittens have received the key to the city, been a calendar model, and was once in the running for New Zealander of the year; all this despite having no real achievements and a criminal record.
His daily promenades are broken up by naps in offices and libraries, and by the call of the car. Mittens cannot resist the sweet sound of a car door opening and will come running for a kip in a motor vehicle. He is not always stopped by doors and has been known to jump through open car windows at stoplights.
A map of Mitten sightings marks his territory as from the outer suburbs across through the central city. The vagabond feline has become an official resident of the city, and it’s better to let him do his thing. He knows what he is doing.
A family of gigantic goats have become local celebrities in Auckland. Steve and Dave Jr (DJ), are comparable in size to small cows. Steve is three years old, around two metres tall, and 106kg. Steve and DJ love a ride in the car and have been sighted around the city. The frequent farmers markets, searching for a bargain, and are often found at one of the city’s beaches laid out flat for a kip in the sun. “Steve is definitely aware that he is a celebrity,” said owner Grant Solley. “He can pose for the camera.”
DJ is only a year old, but he is not the baby of the family; that’s little Chips, three months old and already the cover girl of the local community Facebook page. She is named for the pile of woodchips and afterbirth they found her buried under.
Wee baby Burt Chop didn’t have a mum, and the other sheep got a bit rough with the young lamb. When he was moved into the human house for a bit of hand-rearing, Burt found where he belonged: with the dogs.
His owner, Naomi Abraham, describes him as “the most useless sheep on the farm”; but he is the most talented animal on this list. This Romney sheep can jump, swim, and run like the wolves he thinks he descends from.
If you are driving past farms on the Banks Peninsula, keep an eye out for a sheep/dog wearing sunglasses – that’ll be the one and only Burt.
This $80,000 bird flies in a private plane, has his own island, and has done nothing to earn this sycophantic treatment. His greatest claim to fame is making love to the unwilling head of a zoologist in the middle of a Stephen Fry documentary. Though his will is strong, his skills are not; Sirocco has failed to produce any offspring in his 23 years.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) reckons he is worth the insurance money though; he is a marketing asset. Sirocco has around 235,000 Facebook fans, making him almost four times as popular as the leader of the opposition, Judith Collins.
Sirocco loves a swim in the sea, a floret of broccoli, and staunchly refusing to be attracted to his own species. As a hand-reared parrot, he loves his human friends, and these days can be found hanging out at Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Dunedin.
The Little Penguin rehabilitation facility in Napier is home to some very good penguins – and some very naughty ones. Some of the penguins were abandoned as chicks, some were injured or became sick in the wild, and all of them have found a home with each other. The National Aquarium of New Zealand keeps track of how they’re adapting to their surroundings and gives out monthly awards for good behavior.
If the penguins’ sense of worth weren’t under enough pressure, there’s a Penguin of the Year competition that anyone in the world can vote on and this year, Captain, one of the nicest penguins and a real gentleman won the crown for Penguin of the Year 2020.
https://tourismindiaonline.com/saxony-as-the-first-official-cultural-destination-of-itb-berlin-2021/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLJCRk-GRDA&t=9s
