The Marlborough Sounds have many native species that call the area home, that are considered taonga.

Some like the King Shag / Kawau a toru can only be found in the Marlborough Sounds.

There are approximately forty endangered Hector’s Dolphin / Tūpoupou that spend the majority of the year in Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui giving birth to their young in spring and early summer in the Tūpoupou Marine Protected Area.

Some of the small islands in the Marlborough Sounds are predator free and provide protected areas for endangered species like the Rowi Kiwi, South Island Saddleback / Tīeke, New Zealand Parakeet / Kākāriki and Little Penguins / Kororā.

Taonga

(noun) treasure, anything prized – applied to anything considered to be of value including socially or culturally valuable objects, resources, phenomenon, ideas and techniques.

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Hector's Dolphin
Tūpoupou

The Hector’s Dolphin / Tūpoupou are an endangered species. Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui is lucky enough to have a resident pod which spends the majority of the year in the area, giving birth to their young in the Tūpoupou Marine Protected Area.

They are the worlds smallest dolphin at less than 1.5 m in length and 40 to 60 kg. The calves look like a rugby ball with flippers at birth. The females have a calf every 2 or 3 years, so only have 4 or 5 calves in their lifetime.

King Shag
Kawau a toru

The King Shag / Kawau a toru is endemic to New Zealand and can only be found in the Marlborough Sounds and is considered an endangered species since the population numbers fewer than 900 individuals.

They have the ability to dive to depths of 50m to catch their food consisting of bottom-dwelling species like flounder, therefore they are dependent on a healthy benthic environment in the deeper waters of Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui.

Little Penguins
Kororā

The world’s smallest penguin, about 33cm long and weighing about 1kg. In Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui they can be found on predator free islands.  The numbers of little penguins is thought to be declining so further research is needed to find out why.

Little penguins often return to where they hatched. Adult birds come ashore between May and June to prepare nests. They may waddle up to 1.5 km from the sea, and climb 300 m to find the perfect nest site.

New Zealand Parakeet
Kākāriki

Kākāriki which means ‘small green parrot’ are beautiful forest birds.

Kākāriki are basically bright green in colour but can be identified by the distinguishing coloured areas on the head, there are five main species of kākāriki:
Yellow-crowned parakeet.
Orange-fronted parakeet.
Red-crowned parakeet.
Forbes’ parakeet.
Antipodes Island parakeet.

Rowi Kiwi

Rowi Kiwi is a endemic, nationally vulnerable member of the kiwi family. They are the rarest of the five species of kiwi. They are also known as the Okarito kiwi or Okarito brown kiwi as there is now only one natural population in Okarito forest on the West Coast of the South Island.

As part of Operation Nest Egg (ONE). Rowi Kiwi are translocated to two predator-free islands in Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui where they grow safely away from predators.

South Island Saddleback
Tīeke

The South Island Saddleback / Tīeke is an endangered species with only around 650 birds in existence. By 1964 only 36 South Island Saddlebacks were left on three islands. The Department of Conservation translocated these birds to predator free islands and saved the saddleback from extinction.

In Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui they can be found on Motuara Island as part of the successful translocation project where they happily breed and provide birds for others islands.

Get involved!

The animals and plants of Tōtaranui need your help now!