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New Zealand Nature Trivia

Do you know what New Zealand's national animal is or what its largest national park is called? Take our quiz to put your knowledge to the test, then share it with friends to see who knows the most about New Zealand's natural wonders! When you're finished, scroll down to reveal the correct answers and explanations.

Answer Explanations:

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What is the name of the indigenous people who have inhabited New Zealand for more than 1,000 years?

Correct Answer: Maori people

Explanation: The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, having arrived by canoe from eastern Polynesia in the late 13th century. They have distinctive Toi (arts), Haka (warrior dances), Purakau (legends) and a native language. The Tiwi people are one of the hundreds of indigenous groups found in Australia. Samoans are a Polynesian people native to the Samoan Islands. Papuans are the largest indigenousethnic group in Papua New Guinea who are thought to have arrived on the island 50,000 years ago.

What ocean is New Zealand is located in?

Correct Answer: Pacific Ocean

Explanation: New Zealand is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Which of these facts about the Maori people is not true?

Correct Answer: Maori make up 6 percent of New Zealand's population.

Explanation: Maori make up 14.9 percent of New Zealand's population.

What is New Zealand's largest national park?

Correct Answer: Fiordland National Park

Explanation: Southwest New Zealand is home to one of the greatest wilderness areas of the Southern Hemisphere. Here, snowcapped mountains, rivers of ice, deep lakes, unbroken forests and tussock grasslands produce a landscape of exceptional beauty. Fiordland National Park, located in this region, is the country’s largest national park. Created in 1952, the park comprises nearly 3 million acres of land that is characterized by steep, jumbled topography, rugged coastline, dense rain forest and a challenging climate.

Which of these facts about New Zealand marine wildlife is untrue?

Correct Answer: The yellow-eyed penguin is the world's smallest penguin.

Explanation: The little blue penguin is the world's smallest penguin, while the yellow-eyed penguin is the rarest!

Fun Fact: The sperm whale has the largest brain in the world—it is about 20 pounds. This cetacean feed mainly on squid and is the largest toothed whale!

Photo Credits—Dusky Dolphin: AllenMcC. [CC BY 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons; New Zealand Fur Seal: Bernard Spragg via Wikimedia Commons; Erect-Crested Penguin: Royal New Zealand Navy (CC BY-ND 2.0) via Flickr

This bird is New Zealand's national animal:

Correct Answer: Kiwi

Explanation: During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique and rare bird species. The little blue penguin, with its slate-blue plumage, is also sometimes called the fairy penguin, due to it being the smallest species. The kiwi bird is so iconic that New Zealanders themselves are referred to as Kiwis! The flightless takahe was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1948. The kea is the only alpine parrot on Earth. The nocturnal kakapo or "owl parrot" is the world’s only flightless parrot. All of these birds (with the exception of the little blue penguin) are endangered and have recovery programs dedicated to their conservation.

Photo Credits—Takahe: russellstreet [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons; Little Blue Penguin: JJ Harrison [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons; Kakapo: Chris Birmingham [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

Nat Hab visits this area in New Zealand, known as the “Edinburgh of the South” due to its Scottish heritage.

Correct Answer: Dunedin

Explanation: Dunedin is the old Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. For settlers, its rugged hills were familiar, and they were delighted to discover that a bracing winter’s frost was usually followed by a still, blue day; that the surrounding country was ideally suited to running sheep and growing oats, wheat and barley; and that the river water was clear and clean. Today, one can visit New Zealand’s only castle—Larnach Castle—and New Zealand’s first university—the University of Otago, a handsome stone pile modeled after the University of Glasgow.

In a myth that represents the bond between humans and nature, Paikea, an ancestor of the Maori, journeyed to New Zealand on the back of which animal?

Correct Answer: Humpback whale

Explanation: Paikea rode on the back of the whale Tohora. New Zealand's waters are home to humpbacks, southern right whales, orcas and long-finned pilot whales, along with blue, fin, minke, sperm and beaked whales.

New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote:

Correct Answer: True

Explanation: In 1893 New Zealand became the first nation in the world to grant women the right to vote.

Photo Credit—Ashley Hunter (1854 - 1932) via Wikimedia Commons

What is New Zealand's deepest lake?

Correct Answer: Lake Hauroko

Explanation: Lake Hauroko in Fiordland National Park is more than 1,500 feet deep, making it the deepest lake in New Zealand.

Which of these kiwi facts is untrue?

Correct Answer: Kiwi's are frugivores, primarily eating tamarillos, feijoas and boysenberries.

Explanation: Kiwis primarily eat insects, but will also feed on seeds and fruit. Kiwi numbers declined in the 1900s due to the introduction of non-native predators such as stoats, ferrets and weasels. The Kiwi Recovery Plan has helped drastically increase the number of chicks that survive to adulthood, from 5 percent in 1991 to 60 percent in 1998. Kiwis are flightless, nocturnal and monogamous. In proportion to their body size, they lay the largest eggs of any bird on the planet, which is up to one-quarter of their body mass.

Photo Credit—Judi Lapsley Miller [CC BY 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons

WWF-New Zealand is helping conserve native species by:

Correct Answer: All of the above.

Explanation: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is urging a ban of gill net use and trawling throughout the endangered Maui dolphin’s range and has launched a mobile app that lets people record dolphin sightings. WWF is also protecting the 22 species of albatross that breed in New Zealand by uniting fishermen, industries and the government to save seabirds. Lastly, the nonprofit is funding conservation education in communities and schools.

Photo Credits for Results—Dr. Mridula Srinivasan, NOAA/NMFS/OST/AMD, (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr

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