While the country holds Toa and his bid to unite with family firmly in our hearts, we take a look at the most memorable moments our celebrity animals took headline news by storm.
While the country holds Toa and his bid to unite with family firmly in our hearts, we take a look at the most memorable moments our celebrity animals took headline news by storm.
Toa the baby orca who was stranded from its pod near Wellington has captivated the nation.
For days, Kiwis have been tuning in and waiting for an update on whether Toa's pod has been spotted.
But it's not the first time the nation has been swept up in animal mania. Remember Shrek the sheep? Jin the otter?
While there have been a number of stories over the past decade, New Zealand's obsession with our unique animals actually started back in the mid-1950s with Opo the dolphin.
While the country holds Toa and his bid to unite with family firmly in our hearts, we take a look at the most memorable moments our animals turned celebrities took headline news by storm.
She was originally named "Opononi Jack", based on Pelorus Jack, since she was presumed to be male.
She loved human company and would perform stunts for locals, play with objects like beach balls and beer bottles, and allow children to swim alongside her and make contact.
Sadly, her life was cut tragically short after being found dead under suspicious circumstances in March 1956.
Opo is memorialised by a statue in Opononi and was the subject of songs, children's books and multiple documentaries.
Fugitive Jin the otter
Jin the Asiatic short-clawed otter made a dash for freedom from Auckland Zoo in 2006 and became one of the leading stories for the 6pm bulletins.
We've had animals escape the zoo, but it's not often a fugitive otter remains on the run for so long.
Jin the Asiatic short-clawed otter made a dash for freedom from Auckland Zoo in 2006 and became one of the leading stories for the 6pm bulletins.
For weeks there were reported sightings of Jin on the North Shore. But finally, after 26 days on the loose, Jin was captured by zookeepers on Rangitoto and relocated to Wellington Zoo.
She eventually died four years later in 2006.
Shrek the sheep
The original Shrek the sheep.
Shrek the woolly mammoth Merino wether gained international fame in 2004 after he avoided being caught and shorn for six years.
Usually shorn annually, Shrek hid in caves and evaded its owner on a farm in central Otago until finally being caught on April 15, 2004.
He was then shorn, with the event being broadcast on national television.
His fleece contained enough wool to make 20 large men's suits and weighed a whopping 27kg.
Shrek became a national icon and was taken to Parliament to meet then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.
The evasive sheep was eventually euthanised on June 6, 2011 on veterinarian's advice at the age of 16.
Nigel no mates, New Zealand's loneliest gannet
Nigel the gannet died surrounded by concrete birds.
New Zealand's loneliest gannet spent years fruitlessly practising his charms on another gannet - though that could have been due to the fact the object of his affections was a concrete sculpture.
Nigel moved to Mana Island in 2013 and fell in love with one of the 80 concrete decoy gannets on the uninhabited island.
The decoy birds, placed on the island to encourage other, living birds back, were clearly too realistic.
Nigel was spotted building a nest to impress his stone sweetheart, and was seen grooming her concrete feathers for her.
The tale of unrequited love came to an end when Nigel's lifeless body was found near the concrete bird in 2018.
Nigel's search for love made headlines around the world and tributes flowed in from all corners of the globe following his death.
Happy Feet the penguin
Happy Feet was found on Peka Peka beach, thousands of kilometres from his Antarctic home. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Happy Feet the emperor penguin captured hearts around the world after washing up on the Kapiti Coast in 2011.
Some distance from his Antarctic home, Happy Feet's fate was initially uncertain when vets from Wellington Zoo discovered he had swallowed a large amount of sand, as well as sticks and rocks.
"Normally these guys eat snow, and that rehydrates them. That's why he's been eating sand, because he doesn't know any better," said Wellington Zoo vet science manager Lisa Argilla at the time.
Happy Feet beat the odds and recovered enough to be transported thousands of kilometres back to his natural habitat.
What happened to him after that will remain a mystery - a transmitter glued to his back stopped working shortly after his release.
It is not known whether he was eaten by a predator, or the transmitter simply fell off.
Papakura seal
The seal at the car wash in Papakura. Photo / Daniel Hines
A rogue seal caused havoc in Auckland in 2015 after making its way to a Papakura car wash and claiming it as a nap space for the day.
The infamous seal was rounded up by Auckland Zoo and Department of Conservation staff and taken to a remote beach for release.
In 2010 he was made official spokesbird for conservation by then Prime Minister John Key, and he has toured New Zealand to delight fans with live appearances.
Sirocco was hand-reared as a chick due to respiratory illness, and since then has refused to mate with other kākāpō.
The bird slipped his electronic monitoring bracelet back in 2017 and went awol shortly before his 20th birthday, but was found again in 2018.
Moko the dolphin
Pam Hanretty swims with Moko the dolphin in the Tauranga harbour. Photo / File
Moko the cheeky bottlenose dolphin turned heads when he became a regular feature at Mahia Beach between 2006 and 2010.
The dolphin was first spotted on New Zealand shores by Mahia resident Bill Shortt, as it popped out of the water next to his aluminium boat.
Moko quickly became a national attraction, known for his cheeky theft of boogie boards, oars, and paddles.
He received worldwide fame when he rescued an adult pygmy sperm whale and her calf. After many attempts by rescue workers had failed, Moko coached them back out to sea.
A year later he was up to mischief when he trapped a woman out at sea. The woman went swimming and began to play with Moko.
But difficulties arose when the woman became tired, and the dolphin, which was still playing, did not allow her to return to the shore.
As a result of this, the woman began to panic. People back at shore heard the now exhausted woman screaming for help, and rowed out to rescue her. They found her wrapped around a buoy, and took her back to the shore.
She explained that Moko meant no harm.
In 2010 Moko moved to Whakatāne before following a boat to Tauranga.
Scientists were worried about Moko's welfare after a study found he had been scarred by boats and a fish hook. He was found dead on a beach at Matakana Island near Tauranga on July 7, 2010.
Kaikoura Cows
The stranded cows became the face of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.
They became the global "face" of the 2016 Kaikoura quake: footage of three cows stranded on a small grass island amidst the chaos after the massive magnitude-7.8 tremor were beamed on live news bulletins around the world.
Clarence Valley farmer Derrick Millton was busy trying to save the herefords when phone calls from BBC, CNN, ABC and other major news networks came in wanting to know whether the two adult cattle and calf would survive.
Even Prince William, who stayed at the farm during the 2005 British and Irish Lions rugby tour, messaged the Milltons to say, "Your friends in England are thinking of you".
"The world just seemed to want to know and I realised just how important they were to the whole earthquake story," Millton recalls a year on from that fateful day.
The cows were part of a mob of 18 that were rescued on the third day of the quake.
They've even sparked a best-selling book, borne out of a poem penned by Millton's wife Jane at 4am the day after the quake, Moo and Moo and the Little Calf Too.
"These are our friends - the guts of our farm really," he said.
"People always want to know about the cows and whether they were ever saved. It's always about the cows, not the people or the earthquake itself. But it's a positive story.
"It's a f***ing goat!"
Young Ivy Smith was sure she had correctly identified the animal. Photo / TikTok
Yeah, we know, this isn't really about the goat. But it'll go down in history as one of New Zealand's most viral animal moments caught on camera.
Earlier this year Christchurch mum Sophie Smith was at home with her 2-year-old daughter Ivy when a goat appeared in the garden.
The 2-year-old then alerted her mum to what was going on, saying: "A f***ing goat's outside."
