Nicola Toki is a woman on a mission, striving to protect New Zealand’s vulnerable flora and fauna. A keen conservationist from an early age, the host of new TV series Endangered Species Aotearoa With WWF was brought up on episodes of Wild South, which kindled her dream of becoming our very own Sir David Attenborough.
“I was born in Invercargill and spent a lot of time on my grandmother’s farm near the Catlins,” the Forest & Bird chief executive tells Woman’s Day. “Nana’s farm had a beautiful block of native bush and when many of her neighbours started clearing their bush to plant hardwood, Nana flat-out refused. I was about six when I watched machinery go up and down her road to clear those properties. I also saw what that bush meant to Nana and how important it was to stand up for nature.”
When her family moved to Aoraki National Park, Nicola’s passion for nature blossomed.
“I was seven when we moved to Mt Cook Village, where kea would ski down our roof every morning purely for the fun. They’d run up and slide down over and over again. I also learned the hard
way not to leave my bike outside overnight because the kea had a great old time tearing it to bits!”
Clearly destined for a wild life, Nicola studied zoology at the University of Otago, which led to an honours project researching penguin chicks on a remote Antarctic island. Aged just 22, Nicola spent a season living in a one-room hut with three other scientists. “I’d sit on the rocks in some pretty awful weather and I’d watch penguins all day long. But I didn’t mind as there was something about them that made me laugh.”
Back in New Zealand, Nicola was thrilled to be accepted into a natural history filmmaking course, which eventually led to a role with the Department of Conservation (DoC) as their threatened species ambassador. While with DoC, Nicola made appearances on Good Morning before presenting popular nature show Meet The Locals. Radio New Zealand listeners are also charmed by Critter Of
The Week, a segment Nicola brings to Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan, now in its eighth year.
A self-confessed nature nerd, Nicola’s latest venture sees her hosting TVNZ 1’s Endangered Species. Joined by The Great Kiwi Bake Off funnyman Pax Assadi, the dynamic duo travels the length of Aotearoa and talk to farmers, local iwi scientists and rangers, all of them going that extra mile to protect our endangered creatures.
Going bush with Pax on Endangered Species.
“One of my favourite stories is about the rock wren or pīwauwau. The only alpine bird to live above the tree line, it’s the size of a golf ball and weighs the same as a couple of $1 coins. This tiny, fragile bird survives where humans couldn’t hope to cope. But they’re really vulnerable to stoats and we met scientists who were working to protect them.”
Preferring country life to city bustle, Nicola lives in Hurunui in rural north Canterbury with her husband Chris, a teacher, and son Hunter, who keep her grounded when her work carries her all over the country.
Enjoying the great outdoors with husband Chris and son Hunter.
“Chris and I hail from opposite ends of the country,” she tells. “His family is Ngāti Hau, but from the top of the North Island. Like me, he spent his childhood adventuring in the bush behind his family farm, so we share that connection to nature.”
Together for 14 years, the pair have passed their love of taiao (nature) on to Hunter, 10.
“Hunter and I were on What Now the other day and he totally upstaged me as he was so comfortable being on TV,” Nicola says proudly. “I’m delighted he connects with nature, although he is totally his
own man. We have lots of pets and he has a real empathy with living things, including bugs. But we’ve no idea what he’ll be. For a while, he wanted to be a palaeontologist spy with Parkour thrown into the mix, and more recently he’s been considering being a train driver, so we’ll see.”
As Nicola talks, her hand goes to her necklace, a little black robin crafted in silver.
“I found this when we filmed in the Chathams,” she smiles. “There are only two shops there and this little bird was tucked in the jewellery case in one corner, between the bread and the hunting gear. It caught my eye because the little black robin is a real icon as a story of hope.
“One of the most moving episodes of Endangered Species was when we saw black robins in the wild. I learned about them while watching Wild South as a child, the impossible story of five black robins
and just one female.
“In spite of such bleak numbers, wildlife service rangers refused to let them disappear. We see that a lot in New Zealand conservation history, where people refuse to give up hope. So for me, this necklace is my symbol of hope.”
Endangered Species Aotearoa With WWF screens 8.30pm Mondays on TVNZ 1.
