Southern Encounter Aquarium Christchurch

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Animals

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Animals - Southern Encounter Aquarium Christchurch.

New Zealand is geographically isolated from any major continental land mass, and has been since it broke from the Gondwanaland 'Super Continent' approximately 70 million years ago.
This has resulted in a native fauna which has evolved independently from that found on other land masses and consequently all but five of New Zealand's native freshwater fish are endemic (only found in New Zealand).

From a terrestrial perspective this isolation has also resulted in a proliferation of flightless birds, which have evolved to fill the ecological niche which mammals took up on other land masses.

Southern Encounter embraces these very special animals and aims to educate the public about their fascinating life histories, their beauty, and sadly, due to many negative impacts brought about by man, the precariousness of their existence.



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