Up to 20 birds have been coated with oil after a major spill which clogged a King Country river on Wednesday.

A young emperor penguin has a 50 per cent chance of survival after filling its throat with sand from a Kapiti Coast beach.

A bill aimed at changing the nasty habits of some freedom campers passed its first reading in Parliament today.

Moves to rush through laws against fouling public areas may not be effective in urban zones.

A kiwi bird thought to have made a mysterious 14,000km journey to a Russian resort town is actually something else altogether.