Entertaining Account Of Aotearoa's Animal History Broadens The Wingspan Of The NZ Series

Humans reached New Zealand about 1000 years ago, at which point animals had been here for several hundred million years.

How was life before and after Māori and European arrival? What is unique about our species, how have they adapted over time and what is their future in a time of climate change?

In Wild Life: An Animal History of Aotearoa, award-winning author Philippa Werry takes the story back to Gondwanaland, looking at dinosaur life, the amazing tuatara, species evolutions over time and some of those that didn’t manage to survive, like the Haast’s eagle and huia.

Coming to the modern era, the book surveys all aspects of animal life — from introduced pests, livestock and domestic pets to conservation efforts, zoos and animal celebrities like Shrek the sheep and Phar Lap.

This colourful ninth book in Oratia’s NZ Series follows The Treaty of Waitangi, winner of the Margaret Mahy Supreme Book of the Year prize at the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

A free Teacher Resource for the book is available on the Oratia website.

The author

Philippa Werry is a writer of non-fiction and fiction for young readers. She has won numerous awards, including the Young Adult Fiction Award at the 2023 NZYCA Awards for her novel Iris and Me, and is well known for books on New Zealand society, including The NZ Series title New Zealand Migration (2023). She lives in Wellington (www.philippawerry.co.nz). 

Wild Life: An Animal History of Aotearoa
Written by Philippa Werry
Published by Oratia
ISBN: 978-1-99-004298-0  |  RRP $29.99 | Paperback
www.oratia.co.nz

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