Date: 17 December 2025
DOC staff have issued a plea to communities to leave wildlife alone after members of the public moved a dead orca found floating against Oamaru Harbour’s breakwater last Friday (12 December), ignoring advice they had received from rangers.

Date: 16 December 2025
Touted as the longest in New Zealand, the new swing bridge being built in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park has been giving everyone a bit of a headache.

Date: 16 December 2025
Researchers were in Kaikōura last week to learn more about the behaviour of kekeno/New Zealand fur seals at sea.

Date: 11 December 2025
Nestled in the Canterbury foothills is a very special site with a rich history – Ōtūwharekai Hakatere Heritage – now recognised as a new Tohu Whenua site.

Date: 10 December 2025
A year on from the devastating fire that swept through the Craigieburn area, a new community group is helping nature restore the land.

Date: 05 December 2025
A year after a single feral cat destroyed a large black-fronted tern/tarapirohe colony on Canterbury’s Waiau Toa/Clarence River, it has finally been caught.

Date: 04 December 2025
Campers and boaties around the popular Lake Benmore shoreline in Canterbury are being asked to look out for the ‘world famous’ pūteketeke/crested grebe this summer.

Date: 03 December 2025
As a busy summer season starts in many popular tourist spots around the country, DOC is urging visitors to ‘stay on track’ at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

Date: 19 November 2025
If there was ever an episode of Love Island for birds, it might be set in the Mackenzie Basin/Te Manahuna.

Date: 18 November 2025
DOC ranger Jen Schori couldn’t believe her eyes as colleagues called her over during an annual grasshopper survey near Lake Tekapo/Takapō in the Mackenzie basin.

Date: 17 November 2025
Peter Winter might be 94 but he’s still handy with a shovel and is happy to head into the Canterbury back country to help DOC rangers upgrade walking tracks.

Date: 12 November 2025
DOC has confirmed the pricing plan for car parking at Aoraki/Mt Cook as part of its’ paid car parking trial which will start mid-December this year.

Date: 11 November 2025
The next steps in an ambitious plan to eliminate all pests from Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park will begin later this month.

Date: 29 October 2025
A call has gone out to locals in the Mackenzie basin to help spot kakī/black stilts, one of New Zealand’s rarest native birds, and record any sightings.

Date: 08 October 2025
DOC says it’s very pleased with the positive attitude and compliance from whitebaiters around the region, after checking rivers yesterday in a joint operation with other agencies.

Date: 07 October 2025
DOC is asking the public to come forward with any information that would help with its investigation into the death of a little blue penguin/kororā on Sunday, 28 September.

Date: 24 September 2025
Hector’s dolphins in Akaroa Harbour will benefit from new daily limits for permitted dolphin viewing and swimming trips.

Date: 24 September 2025
DOC has released a pricing proposal for a paid car parking pilot this coming summer at White Horse Hill car park at Aoraki/Mount Cook.

Date: 11 September 2025
A dolphin has been found decapitated on a beach north of Kaikōura, and DOC staff want to know what happened.

Date: 15 August 2025
A leopard seal hauled out on a Christchurch beach over the past week was moved and sadly euthanised today.

Date: 13 August 2025
Cyclists can once again ride the full St James Cycle Trail loop, near Hanmer Springs, with the opening of a new bridge across the Waiau Uwha River.

Date: 12 August 2025
New Zealand’s wild kakī/black stilt population has been boosted with the release of 148 young birds in Te Manahuna/Mackenzie Basin this month.

Date: 07 August 2025
After receiving over 150 submissions, DOC has released a pricing proposal for paid car parking at two busy tourism sites in Te Waipounamu/South Island today.

Date: 30 July 2025
Anti Crow Hut up the Waimakariri River valley was rat-infested and a tree had fallen through one of its walls.

Date: 26 June 2025
DOC has been notified of a dead orca in the shallows on the beach north of Waimairi.

Date: 12 June 2025
Alpine landscapes within the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park will serve as the backdrop for a new biopic about Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s 1953 epic climb to the summit of Mount Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary.

Date: 16 May 2025
DOC has reopened more of the popular Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, as work starts on a spectacular new suspension bridge.

Date: 05 May 2025
A West Coast weka that hitched a ride to Christchurch after sneaking into a vehicle has been returned home by DOC no worse for wear.

Date: 30 April 2025
A DOC ranger’s passion and innovation is driving work to restore a rare fragment of original kānuka forest on the Canterbury Plains.

Date: 23 April 2025
After heavy rainfall over Easter weekend, a bridge on the Hooker Valley Track, one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations, has been closed by the Department of Conservation.

Date: 10 April 2025
A colony of black-fronted terns/tarapirohe near Twizel has defied the odds and raised a bumper number of fledglings this year despite an unprecedented season of challenging weather.

Date: 27 March 2025
Two geckos living on a predator free island off the North Canterbury coast are thought to be the oldest in the world at around 60 and 64 years.

Date: 10 February 2025
Starting from bare ground near Arowhenua Marae in Temuka, a Jobs for Nature project to support the Rakitata River Revival project now employs 11 people.

Date: 19 January 2025
Iwi, DOC, and Project Jonah teams have been responding to two separate whale stranding events this weekend in the South Island.