Days 7-8: Dunedin

Update:

On a grey, cold morning, we left Christchurch and drove on the bus for hours. The first stopping point of interest for this day was the Moeraki Boulders, which were formed into natural spheres by the constant wave motion. After half an hour of climbing the rocks, we got back on the bus and continued to Dunedin.

The city of Dunedin is precariously spread out over and among a series of hills. It was planned by the Scots, who in a burst of foresight, decided not look at a map of the landscape before deciding where to place their streets. The result was Baldwin Street, a residential drive that is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the steepest street in the world. It certainly was a difficult hike up! After reaching the summit and befriending a stray chicken up there, we carefully descended and headed to our hostel. We will be staying at the Kiwi's Nest, an adorable little abode that will house us for three nights. It is conveniently located right across the street from an ice cream shop, and a short 7 minute walk to downtown. Their central downtown "square" is actually an octagon. It contains an excellent authentic Mexican restaurant, and many other places I look forward to eating at later!

Our first full day in Dunedin started later than our previous days, luckily for me. After a leisurely breakfast at 9 am, we left for the University of Otago. This college focuses primarily on sciences (convenient for me if I wanted to transfer! Hypothetically, of course). We met with two representatives from the zoology department, Christoph and Janice. They are both professors and are both involved with Mahu Whenua.

Mahu Whenua (pronouned MA-hoo FEN-oo-wa) is a QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) trust, which means it is a private conservation effort that is protected forever. Numerous people have been a part of surveying this land and using it for ecological research, including the University of Otago. Originally, the land was split up into four different farms; each farm was purchased at a different time by music industry giant Mutt Lange and his then-wife, Shania Twain. They then converted the land to QE2 and handed it over to scientists who wanted to explore and survey it. We will be spending multiple days in the backcountry of Mahu Whenua, helping their conservation efforts along and contributing to this enormous project. We are investigating the effects of invasive species and cataloging the different types of flora we find. The representatives from the University of Otago will be accompanying us, and they were kind enough to give us very informative presentations about the work we will be doing.

We left this beautiful campus and headed to even more beautiful landscape: the ecosanctuary of Orokonui. Being in the South Island, this ecosanctuary is a bit colder than Zealandia or Kaipupu. It has similar bird species, but they sing in different dialects. It houses very few kiwi; however, my goal on this trip is to someday spot this elusive bird! We had a wonderful guide, Sue, who was knowledgable about every type of bird, skink, and plant that we came across. We saw a very round takahe, multiple bellbirds, and kakas. The birds were incredibly loud! The forest smelled like lemonwood, like a cross between citrus and eucalyptus. We tasted pepper tree leaves, which were spicy like chili peppers. There were also fuchsia berries, reminiscent of watered down blueberries. The denser part of the forest we went into just felt ancient. The damp ferns and lancewoods came right out of a Jurassic Park movie, but the diversity of life packed into this place created a powerful feeling.

Ethics of Orokonui

Orokonui serves as a safe haven for many endangered species. This includes flightless birds and reptiles that do not have the evolutionary ability to defend themselves from predators. New Zealand's only non-aquatic mammal is the bat, and all others have been introduced by people. In order to protect these endangered prey, there are fences and traps all around Oronokui to keep all predators out. However, when stoats, possums, and even cats become trapped, they are killed by the people running the traps. The predators are only killed if they enter the sanctuary.

Orokonui is a magical place, and it is saving many endangered species. However, I am extremely torn on this stance. They value the lives of some animals over others with severe consequences. The predators are only acting on their instincts to feed themselves. While these animals are not endangered, the ecosanctuary trapped and killed 500 cats last year. Killing predators at such massive numbers is comparable to massacres. The protected birds are only protected for human enjoyment, since their role in the ecosystem as food is negated by their preserved status.

I acknowledge the fact that without these protective measures in place, these birds may be endangered or even become extinct, which is a tragedy within itself. Humans introduced the problem of invasive, predatory mammals, and it is up to humans to fix this ecological imbalance. But since the predators have been living in New Zealand for so many years, they have established a rightful place in the ecosystem. I too come from a biased place of valuing the lives of some animals over others, as I am more upset about the killing of cats than the weasels or possums, but I still think there is a better option for all trapped animals. Spaying or neutering the trapped predators prevents their uncontrollable breeding, which should help protect the prey. Deporting or removing them to a different part of the country is a more humane way of keeping predators out.