Gentle Giant Wētāpunga

Description

Gentle Giant Wētāpunga highlights the history and what organisations are doing to safeguard this threatened species.

Impressed with the spectacular size and startling features of these colossal crickets, Māori dubbed them Wētāpunga, god of ugly things. Later, scientists chose the genus name Deinacrida, demon grasshopper.

So far 11 Giant species have been identified spread throughout New Zealand and since 2009 the Wētā Recovery Group established by the Dept of Conservation has colllaborated with dedicated organisations, iwi and individuals to help safeguard this threatened species.

Gentle Giant Wētāpunga is the second book from Annemarie Florian in this series introducing threatened species. Her book Kiwi: the real story won the Children’s Choice Non-Fiction award in 2013.