The open-access journal PhytoKeys – known for applying cutting edge technologies in publishing and dissemination to accelerate biodiversity research – is pioneering an electronic-only publishing workflow in a series of papers published over the course of the first week of January 2012.

Residents along the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand were treated with a rare visit by an Emperor penguin on Monday, astonishing wildlife experts, who say the bird was more than 1,900 miles away from its Antarctic home.

The Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife Center reintroduced the kiwi into the wild in 2003, but this year marks the New Zealand national wildlife center’s most successful breeding season, ending with the thirteenth egg hatching into a rare white kiwi chick.

By DYKES, Mervyn These fast-growing monsters, capable of adapting to many different habitats, are among the most invasive of species. -------- ------------ One of the world's biggest "weeds" has the Department of Conservation (DOC) ready to do battle in the bush areas of Manawatu.

THE Department of Conservation is warning people not to be fooled by the puppy dog eyes of a sea lion or New Zealand fur seal this summer, into thinking they're safe to touch. They have a nasty bite and run fast, DOC said.