Wild New Zealand

Isolated since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand's wildlife has been left to its own devices -- with surprising consequences.

The most extreme and wild parts of New Zealand are in the South Island, in the path of the tempestuous "roaring forties." This is home to some of the most rapidly rising mountains in the world, the Southern Alps.

New Zealand was one of the last landmasses to be found and settled by people. Lush and fertile, almost everything brought here flourishes, often with surprising consequences.