Kea

If you want to see the only alpine parrot in the world, you have to head to the South Island of New Zealand. What you probably will realize when you meet one, is that the Kea in the end is very irritating. The Kea is extremely curious and hacks it beak into anything on the ground. That include backpacks, boots and cars. It can fly, but prefers to be on the ground. That is the reason why every trekker has to hang up their stinky boots. If not, the boots are probably ruined the next morning. You wouldn't think so, but the Kea is also very intelligent. It can solve logical puzzles, especially if food is the reward.

The Kea is considered threatened after it used to be hunted for by New Zealand's big sheep farming community, but the population has been on the rise in the last decades since it received full protection in 1986. If you meet one you would probably understand why the Kea is nicknamed "Mountain Monkey" or "Mountain Clown"!

A Kea showing off on the Mackinnon pass on the Milford Track