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Orange-fronted parakeet/kākāriki karaka.

Haere mai

New Zealand’s nature is special and unique, but many people don’t know it’s also in serious trouble. More than 4000 native species are threatened or at risk of extinction – one of the highest proportions in the world.

Blog

19 May 2025

10 days of TLC for Mason Bay homestead

In January 2025, Sarah Wilcox was part of a volunteer crew doing maintenance work on the Island Hill Homestead near Rakiura Stewart Island’s west coast.

Featured

Open hunting permit

Open hunting permit

Get a DOC open hunting permit online.

Donate to DOC nature projects

Donate to DOC nature projects

We need your help to grow funding for nature. By donating to these DOC nature projects you can help protect endangered species and habitats.

Get ready to book your Great Walk

Get ready to book your Great Walk

DOC is encouraging people to prepare to grab their spot when bookings open for popular huts, campsites and Great Walks later this month.

Book huts, campsites, lodges and Great Walks

Book huts, campsites, lodges and Great Walks

Bookings for Great Walks, huts, campsites and lodges are open for stays up to 30 June 2025. Bookings for the 2025/26 season open in May 2025.

Media releases

DOC reopens lower Hooker Valley Track

DOC reopens lower Hooker Valley Track

DOC has reopened more of the popular Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, as work starts on a spectacular new suspension bridge.

Planning underway for Hahei Beach Walk reroute

Planning underway for Hahei Beach Walk reroute

Planning is underway to get Hahei Beach Walk rerouted and open in time for next summer.

DOC ranger snaps rare footage of tuatara and takahē “having a scrap”

DOC ranger snaps rare footage of tuatara and takahē “having a scrap”

A takahē and a tuatara have been filmed engaging in a bush-floor stoush in a new video captured by a quick-thinking DOC Ranger.

New bait to control feral cats shows promise

New bait to control feral cats shows promise

A new meat bait to target feral cats is showing great promise in recent field trials and could be a game changer in work to save nature.