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Sonntag, 31. Mai 2015
Fauna of New Zealand - the most popular animals
surfergirl, 13:32h
The New Zealand fauna is not very broad and varied, but it does have some unique animals such as the Kiwi, which has also now become the name for its national population – a New Zealander is also known as a Kiwi.
The Kiwi is classified as a bird, but does not fly, it barely even has wings, and for a long time it was thought to be a mammal. Kiwis have hairs instead of feathers, and developed thick and very strong legs, so they can walk or run through the vegetation without problems. They are nocturnal animals and hate the daylight. The main predator of the Kiwi are birds such as eagles and falcons, but the kiwi has developed an ability to defend itself in the closed forests or bush, such as coming out only at night, which minimises the chances of it being seen by other animals. With the beginning of the colonisation, forests were destroyed, and for that reason the kiwi became more vulnerable to attack of predators, which almost saw the kiwi go into extinction. The kiwis don’t defend themselves with their beaks, but instead use their super sharp claws. Kiwis are aggressive animals, and you would not be able to hold one in your hand without receiving some deep cuts. In the forest the Kiwi is very protective of its territory, so much so that they might even try to chase a human away, they come running and screaming like a steam train. There are 5 different species of Kiwis. The Kiwi has become a national symbol and can be found on both the north and south island.
The Possum is one of the small numbers of land mammals that live in New Zealand.
They were introduced by the Polynesians, who brought them as a source of food for the long journeys, but they have now turned into pests as they have no natural predators. They are a real nuisance to farmers as they eat crops and cause great damage. It came to such a critical point that the New Zealand government paid $1 for every possum that someone killed. Even shops began to produce and promote possum fur products like sweaters, bags and hats. While in NZ the possum is seen as a pest, in Australia they are protected, but Australia has many predators such as snakes, which are not found in NZ.
As you can see, there are some very extraordinary animals in New Zealand, and there are a lot more of them, but it would take days to write about all of them.
So if you like to get informed about more animals, please visit http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/native-plants-and-animals-overview/page-1
The Kiwi is classified as a bird, but does not fly, it barely even has wings, and for a long time it was thought to be a mammal. Kiwis have hairs instead of feathers, and developed thick and very strong legs, so they can walk or run through the vegetation without problems. They are nocturnal animals and hate the daylight. The main predator of the Kiwi are birds such as eagles and falcons, but the kiwi has developed an ability to defend itself in the closed forests or bush, such as coming out only at night, which minimises the chances of it being seen by other animals. With the beginning of the colonisation, forests were destroyed, and for that reason the kiwi became more vulnerable to attack of predators, which almost saw the kiwi go into extinction. The kiwis don’t defend themselves with their beaks, but instead use their super sharp claws. Kiwis are aggressive animals, and you would not be able to hold one in your hand without receiving some deep cuts. In the forest the Kiwi is very protective of its territory, so much so that they might even try to chase a human away, they come running and screaming like a steam train. There are 5 different species of Kiwis. The Kiwi has become a national symbol and can be found on both the north and south island.
The Possum is one of the small numbers of land mammals that live in New Zealand.
They were introduced by the Polynesians, who brought them as a source of food for the long journeys, but they have now turned into pests as they have no natural predators. They are a real nuisance to farmers as they eat crops and cause great damage. It came to such a critical point that the New Zealand government paid $1 for every possum that someone killed. Even shops began to produce and promote possum fur products like sweaters, bags and hats. While in NZ the possum is seen as a pest, in Australia they are protected, but Australia has many predators such as snakes, which are not found in NZ.
As you can see, there are some very extraordinary animals in New Zealand, and there are a lot more of them, but it would take days to write about all of them.
So if you like to get informed about more animals, please visit http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/native-plants-and-animals-overview/page-1
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Samstag, 23. Mai 2015
Tongariro National Park
surfergirl, 17:29h
Today I would like to introduce the Tongariro National Park to you:
Tongariro National Park is New Zealand`s oldest national park and belongs to the UNESCO world heritage. The park has a rich cultural identity as well as a fascinating natural scenery. You can find unique landforms over there, especially the volcanic peaks.
In 1993 Tongariro became the first property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under the revised criteria describing cultural landscapes. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. The area has been occupied by Maoris since they first arrived from Polynesia and ethnic mythology identifies the mountains in the park with tupuna (god-like ancestors). Until the land was given to the nation in 1887, it was occupied by the Tu Wharetoa tribe.
The park has active and extinct volcanoes, a
diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes. The volcanoes in the middle of the park are called Mt Tongariro and Ngaruahoe and the volcano Ruapehu is situated on the southern border of the park. The volcanic activities began around 2 million years ago and still continue. Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe rank along the most active volcanoes of the world. In the last years the volcano Ruapehu regularly emitted spectacular ash clouds and steam that covered the surrounding skiing areas and forests with a thick layer.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is heralded as the best one-day trek available in New Zealand, while others say it ranks among the top ten single-day treks in the world.
Perhaps you should visit when you get to New Zealand one day? :)
Tongariro National Park is New Zealand`s oldest national park and belongs to the UNESCO world heritage. The park has a rich cultural identity as well as a fascinating natural scenery. You can find unique landforms over there, especially the volcanic peaks.
In 1993 Tongariro became the first property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under the revised criteria describing cultural landscapes. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. The area has been occupied by Maoris since they first arrived from Polynesia and ethnic mythology identifies the mountains in the park with tupuna (god-like ancestors). Until the land was given to the nation in 1887, it was occupied by the Tu Wharetoa tribe.
The park has active and extinct volcanoes, a
diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes. The volcanoes in the middle of the park are called Mt Tongariro and Ngaruahoe and the volcano Ruapehu is situated on the southern border of the park. The volcanic activities began around 2 million years ago and still continue. Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe rank along the most active volcanoes of the world. In the last years the volcano Ruapehu regularly emitted spectacular ash clouds and steam that covered the surrounding skiing areas and forests with a thick layer.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is heralded as the best one-day trek available in New Zealand, while others say it ranks among the top ten single-day treks in the world.
Perhaps you should visit when you get to New Zealand one day? :)
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Donnerstag, 14. Mai 2015
Make Maori compulsory in schools?
surfergirl, 15:49h
At the moment there is a discussion going on in New Zealand whether the traditional Maori language should get compulsory in schools. This is one of the suggestions to save the language but there are very different opinions about this.
Making the Maori language compulsory in schools will create more bilingual New Zealanders, an education institute says. And others say the country should look to Europe for inspiration with language studies, because in European countries the majority of children actually know two or three languages. An advantage in learning the Maori language would be the fact that the Maori language is a little bit similar to other languages so that children who know the Maori language could learn other (European) languages much easier. Learning the Maori language would open doors to culture and to learning other languages. It would be much easier to understand the world. Furthermore, Maori is a cultural treasure that should be kept and so the the Minister of Maori Affairs says the time has come to be compulsory for every New Zealand school to offer Maori lessons.
On the other hand there are people who do not believe that making the Maori language learning in schools compulsory could work. They say compulsion tends to have the opposite effect and as soon as people are told that they have to do this, there is almost a knee jerk reaction and this idea of compulsion really says that the country has run out of ideas and the only thing possible is to force people to learn the language. Languages normally transmit from one generation to the next through certain means and no amount of compulsion is going to compensate for the absence of those traditional transmission mechanisms. However, the Minister Parata also says “The real enemy to oppressing the language is to make it compulsory. The importance of learning the language is that the student, the child and their family, want to learn.”
In my opinion, every single child in New Zealand should really get the opportunity to learn the Maori language and it should be made clear that Maori really is a cultural heritage that should be kept. But I agree that the idea of compulsion is not really good. Although I think you could make it compulsory for a year or two so that students have to expose and get an idea of the Maori language and so can better decide if they like to learn it really good or not.
What do you think about this? :)
Making the Maori language compulsory in schools will create more bilingual New Zealanders, an education institute says. And others say the country should look to Europe for inspiration with language studies, because in European countries the majority of children actually know two or three languages. An advantage in learning the Maori language would be the fact that the Maori language is a little bit similar to other languages so that children who know the Maori language could learn other (European) languages much easier. Learning the Maori language would open doors to culture and to learning other languages. It would be much easier to understand the world. Furthermore, Maori is a cultural treasure that should be kept and so the the Minister of Maori Affairs says the time has come to be compulsory for every New Zealand school to offer Maori lessons.
On the other hand there are people who do not believe that making the Maori language learning in schools compulsory could work. They say compulsion tends to have the opposite effect and as soon as people are told that they have to do this, there is almost a knee jerk reaction and this idea of compulsion really says that the country has run out of ideas and the only thing possible is to force people to learn the language. Languages normally transmit from one generation to the next through certain means and no amount of compulsion is going to compensate for the absence of those traditional transmission mechanisms. However, the Minister Parata also says “The real enemy to oppressing the language is to make it compulsory. The importance of learning the language is that the student, the child and their family, want to learn.”
In my opinion, every single child in New Zealand should really get the opportunity to learn the Maori language and it should be made clear that Maori really is a cultural heritage that should be kept. But I agree that the idea of compulsion is not really good. Although I think you could make it compulsory for a year or two so that students have to expose and get an idea of the Maori language and so can better decide if they like to learn it really good or not.
What do you think about this? :)
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