It probably doesn’t surprise you to hear that people love visiting our native animals online at www.doc.govt.nz. What may surprise you are the native animals people like visiting the most.
#10 Kaka
This amusing, social and boisterous parrot seems to be as much fun to hang out with online as in the real world.
Kaka
#9 Frogs
New Zealand’s four species of native frog may be cold-blooded, but they’re warmly regarded, and well visited, on the DOC website.
Hamilton's frog
#8 Tui
It’s not too much of a stretch to see why this pretty and popular song bird made the list.
Tui feeding
#7 Kakapo
This eccentric New Zealand parrot has a huge following, partly due to their high profile ambassador Sirocco, who regularly makes news headlines around the world.
Kakapo chicks
#6 Tuatara
The only survivor of an ancient group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as dinosaurs, tuatara are internationally famous and endlessly fascinating.
Tuatara
#5 Bats
Maori refer to bats as pekapeka and associate them with the mythical, night-flying bird, hokioi, which foretells death or disaster. Despite this rather gloomy association we still love visiting them.
Short-tailed bat cluster
#4 Kiwi
The kiwi is New Zealand’s national icon and unofficial national emblem. The only surprise about kiwi would’ve been if it didn’t make our top 10.
Kiwi
#3 Weta
Beating many a fair and feathered creature, New Zealand’s most recognisable creepy-crawly takes third place.
Giant weta
#2 Eel
These slimy and snake-like creatures obviously have more love out there than we give them credit for.
Longfin eel
#1 Gecko
One look at the photos on the gecko pages and you’ll understand why these gorgeous creatures made it to the number one spot.
Marlborough green gecko
So, that’s the top 10 native animals of 2011, based on the number of visits each of them received on the DOC website during the year. Do you think visitor numbers have given us an accurate picture of popularity? Did your favourite make the list? Let’s take a quick poll to find out…
Where is the Hector’s Dolphin, out ranked by an eel?