Conservation Minister Nick Smith says he aims to establish a record number of marine reserves around the coast this year as protecting the offshore environment becomes his top priority.

An Auckland man and his friends thought they had spotted a whale when they glimpsed what turned out to be a giant manta ray.

Twenty-seven pilot whales beached at the top of the South Island overnight have been euthanised.

Australia is following a scheme introduced in NZ to decide which wildlife should be allowed to die off

The Department of Conservation has put volunteers on a remote South Westland beach after crowds started turning up to view the penguins.

A kiwi which was savaged by a dog near Coromandel has been euthanised at Auckland Zoo.

Yet another Government IT project has gone off the rails with a new DoC land management system costing taxpayers millions in budget overruns.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) has quashed a rumour circulating in Hawkes Bay promoting an "open fishing day" at Te Angiangi Marine Reserve today.

The DoC could be facing one of its worst possum infestations in decades, partly because workers who helped with pest control were sent to fight bushfires in Australia.

New electronic signs will alert trampers on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to increased risk of volcanic eruption. Lights on the signs

Six fluffy blue ducklings will take their first outing, to an outside pool, for the first time this afternoon.

The Department of Conservation said it was deeply apologetic if members of the public were exposed to pellets from one of its 1080 drops.

Former Westland mayor Durham Havill says he is forming a new private company to build a "class one highway" from Haast to Milford Sound via the Hollyford Valley.

The controversial monorail proposal linking Queenstown to Te Anau Downs and subsequently Milford Sound could soon be approved.

Efforts to save a kiwi injured when it was hit by a car north of Gisborne last week have failed.

Archaeologists yesterday battled against the tide to rescue 14th century moa bones from a "significant" historical settlement at Awamoa Creek, south of Oamaru.

One minute you're a pet goldfish, the next you're an aquatic pest.

Getting rid of pests may sound far-fetched, but as Jamie Morton reports, so did the idea of conquering Mt Everest.

Backers of the $170 million Fiordland monorail say the plan has public support - but a petition opposing the scheme has collected almost 20,000 signatures.

John Key is backing Nick Smith who is once again under fire for allegedly intervening inappropriately in a departmental issue.