Award-winning international filmmaker NHNZ has enthralled millions of viewers with their documentaries for more than three decades. In collaboration with TVNZ, NHNZ now makes their highly acclaimed Wild South programmes available on DVD for the very first time.

KAKAPO - NIGHT PARROT (1982)
When New Zealand was set adrift from Gondwanaland its isolation spurred the development of unique flora and fauna. Finding themselves in a mammal-free country, birds quickly adapted to fill the vacant ecological niches. Nocturnal and flightless, the Kakapo - a corpulent, owl faced parrot - was perfectly adapted to its surroundings, but with the arrival of people and other mammals, its numbers rapidly declined. Sadly the Kakapo has been unable to defend itself against predators, or cope with the decimation of its habitat by introduced grazing animals. Until now the Kakapo has been a bird with many secrets - its nocturnal habits making it extremely difficult to capture its behaviour on film. However, with the aid of special night-vision equipment those secrets can now be revealed.

THE BLACK STILT - A BIRD SURROUNDED BY CHANGE (1984)
Once widespread on both islands, the Black Stilt, New Zealand's rarest wading bird, is now confined to a few rivers in the vast upland plateau of the Mackenzie Basin. This harsh, unforgiving environment is known for its climatic extremes. Many summer birds migrate to avoid the harsh New Zealand winter as to remain would mean starvation. But the Black Stilt endures - they simply shift downstream to the open water of the deltas and there, almost alone, they remain. Having survived the winter the Black Stilts return to the high ground to face an even greater threat with the arrival of the itinerant Pied Stilts. While superbly suited to its high-country habitat, interbreeding and competition for nesting sites are endangering the Black Stilts and time is running out. The survival of this unique species now depends on man's intervention.

THE BLACK ROBIN - A CHATHAM ISLAND STORY (1990)
The Chatham Islands lie in the path of the Roaring Forties, 800km East of New Zealand. These geologically old and remote islands evolved into a matchless bird paradise where the Black Robin thrived. With the arrival of people a century and a half ago, that pristine world was largely destroyed, and before long the Black Robin earned the dubious distinction of being the rarest bird on earth with only five left in existence. The Robin's story tells of man's devastating impact on the Chatham Islands - how easy it was to destroy perfection and how painstakingly difficult it has been to save one of nature's most endearing creations.

Duration Approx 120 minutes

All Regions - Regular 4:3 - Dolby Digital Mono - Colour - PAL