Dunedin Wildlife

Rewrite your wildlife bucket list, because Dunedin is home to some seriously amazing wildlife you didn't even know you wanted to see.

Get ready to explore Dunedin, often hailed as the wildlife capital of New Zealand. Look up and you might see majestic royal albatrosses, with their three-metre wingspan, swooping and soaring. Meanwhile, New Zealand fur seals and barking sea lions sit on the rocks like potatoes. But really cute potatoes.

The Otago Peninsula is the downtown of wildlife, where you can spot yellow-eyed penguins and blue penguins. If it's kiwis you're searching for, then fear not; they're here too in the Orokonui Ecosanctuary.

The beaches and headlands are teeming with wildlife, eating, nesting, raising young...and just hanging out. Select from tours aplenty to add to your itinerary, from boat cruises to land safaris, so grab your binoculars and head off on a South Island adventure.

Here's what to do in Dunedin if you're a nature lover.

Kiwis and Penguins

  • The Otago Peninsula is home to a colony of the rarest penguins in the world, the yellow-eyed penguins, or hoiho if you want to say it the Māori way.
  • You might also be lucky enough to spot the little (and ridiculously adorable) blue penguins here.
  • The Orokonui Ecosanctuary is a little slice of paradise for the native kiwi, who enjoy the protected surroundings of this forest overlooking Blueskin Bay.

Other Local Wildlife

  • Head to Taiaroa Head Royal Albatross Centre observatory on the Otago Peninsula to see the world's only mainland colony of royal albatross.
  • You'll hear (and, we're sorry to say, smell) the roaring New Zealand fur seal and sea lion colonies on the Dunedin coastline long before you see them.
  • Whether you're a professional ornithologist, or don't even know what that means, visit the Orokonui Ecosanctuary to see 17 species of native birds and the tuatara (that's a prehistoric lizard if you're wondering).

Wildlife Tours

  • Embark on a tour in a rip-roaringly fun eight-wheel-drive Argo to see yellow-eyed penguins, New Zealand fur seals and the incredible Otago Peninsula coastal scenery.
  • Alternatively, hop on board a classic boat for a sightseeing cruise around Taiaroa Head to see the royal albatross colony, seals and tons of nesting birds.
  • To see the little blue penguins, a half-day boat tour ends on the restricted Pilots Beach where, at dusk, the penguins begin to waddle onto the shore and proceed to their nests near a viewing platform.

Created in partnership with Enterprise Dunedin