A bush fire near a Taupo native forest is well under control but it will take crews another few days to make sure it's completely out.

Hundreds of volunteers last night kept a vigil over 120 whales restranded on Farewell Spit near Golden Bay.

Twenty pilot whales have beached themselves again and will be euthanised, DoC said, as volunteers are warned to be careful around decomposing whales.

All 100 of the surviving beached whales at Farewell Spit have been successfully refloated as volunteers scrambled to stop another pod swimming into shore.

Emotional scenes as whale rescue volunteers sang to and even named many of the pilot whales stranded - and those refloated - on Farewell Spit.

Volunteers desperately trying to save 100 surviving whales that have beached on Farewell Spit are being warned about the risk of sharks in the water.

Rescuers who tried to refloat beached whales to return at first light.

A whale rescue expert is critical Department of Conservation crews didn't act sooner in last night's devastating whale stranding.

A fishing boat has run aground off the sensitive Otago coast.

Dunedin's newest celebrity albatross chick could be reunited with its parents as soon as tomorrow.

Five birds protected under the Wildlife Act have been found shot dead near Little Barrier Island.

Search teams elated as DOC worker stumbles across missing tourist.

Albatross chick has lost weight after being found riddled with maggots.

The war on plant and animal pests through more than 1400ha of bush, scrub and farmland between Whangarei and Dargaville is being ramped

Scientists just back from an annual white-capped albatross census in the remote and windswept subantarctic islands are hopeful for the welfare of the iconic endemic seabirds.

Volunteers are pollinating Dactylanthus plants on Mt Pirongia 'paint brush-style' in the hope to repopulate the maunga with the indigenous plant. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

A pussy could be on the loose in a Northland nature sanctuary.

A Northland man has been charged with lighting 10 fires in the Kaipara area that have destroyed areas of conservation land and a forest

A 300kg leopard seal looks to be in Auckland to stay, as the hefty visitor makes itself a summer spectacle for ferry commuters.

DoC's confusing direction signs raise the ire of Stephanie Holmes.

A fire which burned through 100ha of hillside near Arthur's Pass last week and four more fires on Saturday are suspected to be the work of an arsonist.

New Zealand Police have helped a grieving Japanese family to visit the Te Urewera site where their relative died in a fire nine years

If people bother the rare penguin moulting in Dunedin it will be moved to a secret location, the Department of Conservation says.

Getting closer than 50m to a killer whale could set you back a couple hundred thousand or land you behind bars.

In the second of a five part series on Auckland's big blue backyard, science reporter Jamie Morton talks to seabird expert Dr Brendon Dunphy.

A protected green gecko which suffered severe burns to its four feet during a scrub fire in Northland is expected to survive but won't

Science reporter Jamie Morton talks to Auckland Uni conservation ecologist Dr James Russell about the challenge to sweep islands clear of pest predators.

Rocks have been cleared from the road and drivers should travel with caution.

There's never a dull day for rescue helicopters.

A little blue penguin was spotted in central Christchurch today after making its way up the Avon River.