Temperate rain forests characterize much of the wooded regions of the west coast, particularly of South Island. Here, giant tree ferns give the forests a prehistoric look. Lush New Zealand rain forest. Photograph courtesy of John Anderson, Rice University. Like the vegetation, much of the fauna is unique to the islands.
Bats are the only native mammal.
Birds did rather well in the absence of predators, and many are flightless. Unfortunately, with the advent of settlers and the introduced species, many of these animals, particularly the flightless ones, were pushed toward extinction . These are small, flightless, nocturnal birds. They have no wings, and their feathers are closer to hair. Their basic line of defense is to kick anything that threatens them.