The rare animals in New Zealand

New Zealand is an island nation with many rare wildlife, such as a dinosaur-like reptile, Snares penguin or glowing worm.

Picture 1 of The rare animals in New Zealand
The lizard Tuatara came out of the eggshell.(Photo: Mark MacEwen / BBC)

According to Guardian, this is the species that has the longest incubation time in reptiles. In the picture is an underground egg drive dug by the mother about 16 months earlier. This is the only surviving member of an ancient reptile, once thriving on Earth during the Jurassic period.

Picture 2 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Snares penguins.(Photo: Mark MacEwen / BBC)

Snares penguins have dug a labyrinth through the forest to their nest area, creating a unique scene, like a penguin city in a dwarf forest. In the breeding season, penguins must climb a steep cliff 130 meters high on the coast of the Snares archipelago, a real challenge.

Picture 3 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Penguins are moving on steep cliffs.(Photo: Mark MacEwen / BBC)

Picture 4 of The rare animals in New Zealand
The glowing worm.(Photo: Mark MacEwen / BBC)

This is the larva of an insect called a flyfly. They glow to attract flying insects into sticky traps.

Picture 5 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Kea parrot.(Photo: Tom Walker / BBC)

Kea is the only parrot species in the world that can survive in the icy conditions of the Southern Alps. They are thought to have developed a strategy of finding food in the last great ice age, when they have to learn to adapt by using their unusual curiosity.

Picture 6 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Kiwi bird.(Photo: Screen Grab / BBC)

Kiwi bird eggs account for 20% of the weight of mother birds. People in pregnancy, babies only account for 5%. This is the only bird with a nostril on the tip of the beak, allowing it to detect invertebrate prey on the ground. The size of a heavyweight chicken, but the kiwi reality is closer to the ostrich.

Picture 7 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Fanless bird.(Photo: Tom Walker / BBC)

One of New Zealand's smallest and most agile birds, can live in the most toxic and corrosive environments here.

Picture 8 of The rare animals in New Zealand
New Zealand sea lions.(Photo: Christina Karliczek / BBC)

This sea lion is one of the rarest and most threatened sea lions in the world. Most of the New Zealand sea lions are now descended from a single child brought back here in 1993, after 100 years of absence.

Picture 9 of The rare animals in New Zealand
Cricket weta.(Photo by Claire Thompson / BBC)

This cricket species can grow up to 3.6 cm in length. Its strategy of fleeing predators is very effective. It can jump into the water and stop breathing for 5 minutes, enough time for predators to leave. Giant weta crickets are the world's heaviest insects, a prehistoric trait in New Zealand, which can reach the weight of a small bird.