It’s very likely the Maori of New Zealand were the first to find Antarctica in the 7th century.
Tag: New Zealand
Fun Fact: Original Choice For Gandalf
Christopher Plummer was originally offered the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. He turned it down because he didn’t want to spend years in New Zealand shooting the movies, as he didn’t like the country that much.
Fun Fact: National Bird of New Zealand
The national bird of New Zealand is the kiwi. You actually have no chance of seeing a kiwi in nature outside of New Zealand as the birds are flightless.
(Not So) Fun Fact: When Cats Devoured Flightless Birds in New Zealand
The Stephens Island Wren was a flightless bird that (in modern times) was found only on a small island in New Zealand. Around the year 1900, they all perished when cats were introduced to the island. A popular (but false) story is that all the birds were eaten by a cat named Tibbles, who belonged…
Fun Fact: Closest Relatives To Kiwi Birds
While the New Zealand birds known as kiwis were thought to be very closely related to the flightless and extinct Moa they were much more distant cousins than scientists expected. DNA evidence proved that they are more closely related to Cassowary birds (that live in New Guinea and Australia), elephant birds (which had lived in…