Kea are the only true alpine parrots in the world and thrive as cunning opportunists in the freezing conditions of the Southern Alps. Kea are thought to have developed their wide array of food-finding strategies during the last great ice age, where they learned to adapt using their unusual powers of curiosity. (Photo by Tom Walker/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)
New Zealand’s first sheep were set ashore by Captain Cook in 1773. At their peak in 1982, there were 22 sheep for every person in New Zealand. Nowadays, the numbers have fallen by a third and are now estimated at just over seven sheep per person. (Photo by Nick Easton/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)
Milford Sound, perhaps New Zealand’s most famous scenic location, was long overlooked by early sailors and explorers, who didn’t realise the narrow entrance concealed an enormous and beautiful interior. It wasn’t discovered by Europeans until 1812. Named the eighth “wonder of the world”, its actually one of the wettest places on Earth, with rainfall creating cascades of waterfalls, some reaching a 1,000m in length. (Photo by Tom Walker/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)
Steep cliffs reaching heights of up to 130m define the coastlines of the Snares Islands, making it an arduous climb for the penguins that breed there. (Photo by Mark Macewen/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)
Snares penguins have carved out a labyrinth of well-trodden paths through the forest to their nest sites, creating the unique spectacle of streets of penguin commuters in what looks like a dwarf jungle. The gnarled trunks they walk under are unusual too as they belong to trees of the daisy family. (Photo by Mark MacEwen/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)