Rebecca Fox

The practice of hot-iron branding New Zealand sea lions ended in controversy 13 years ago, but research has found it has not affected their survival.

It will be at least a week before it is known if the first kakapo chick to hatch since 2011 will survive.

The Taieri and other flood-prone catchments are at risk by not having an effective rain warning system, Dunedin City councillor and Middlemarch farmer Kate Wilson says.

Join a club, try a new sport or explore the city by bus and remember not to do anything you would not do at home.

Flowers are blooming and the birds are singing as Otago Peninsula's flora and fauna regenerates without significant predation by possums.

A Japanese whaling vessel that reportedly tailed an anti-whaling ship close to Otago's coastline - inside New Zealand's exclusive economic zone- did so against the ''strong wishes'' of the New Zealand Government.

Otago regional councillor Gerrard Eckhoff has not ruled out further pushes to get the council to debate the issues around oil and gas exploration, after failing at the first hurdle yesterday.

Joining in the Strath Taieri A&P Show turned out well for the Best of British Charity Motoring Day, organiser Mark Paterson, of the Otago Jaguar Drivers Club, said.

An increasing trend towards more westerly weather patterns along Otago's coast does not bode well for future warm summers, climate scientist Jim Salinger says.

Ask anyone and they will tell you Otago's had a lousy summer - even the experts. With the official summer season ending yesterday, Rebecca Fox seeks the truth behind the perceptions.

In nearly 40 years of measuring the weather at his Balaclava home, John Bradley has never seen a summer quite like it.

Nearly five months after Conservation Minister Nick Smith announced he was creating a forum to discuss creating a marine protected area off Otago's coast, it has not eventuated.

Bennett's wallabies could infiltrate 30km to 40km into Otago in coming decades if their numbers are not kept in check, Landcare Research's Bruce Warburton says.

The bird life of Orokonui Ecosanctuary picked the right day to show themselves - the first visit of Department of Conservation director-general Lou Sanson.

One of the most ''disastrous breeding seasons'' in recent years has hit endangered yellow-eyed penguin colonies along Otago's coast.