Ballet dancers ‘go wild’ for Predator Free 2050  

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

We’re launching a new Predator Free 2050 and Always Be Naturing video – Predator Free 2050: Let Nature Go Wild – that features the Royal New Zealand Ballet dancing in native species costumes. Check out korimako twirls, kiwi leaps, spider spins, and learn more about this playful campaign…

Finally, the day has come where bird nerds, professional dancers, and a film crew unite for nature!

Introducing a new Predator Free 2050 video – Let Nature Go Wild 

The Royal New Zealand Ballet recently volunteered their time, native species costumes, and exceptional talent to help us spread the Predator Free 2050 message.

This 30 second playful and funny video features a young woman daydreaming in a park while listening to dance music. She spots a community trapper and it inspires her to envisage a predator-free future.

The tagline of the campaign is “Predator Free 2050: Let nature go wild”, with the core message of “when predators are gone, nature throws a party”.

Sharing our predator-free vision with new audiences

We’re launching this video and digital campaign to grow awareness for those who haven’t heard of Predator Free 2050 before.

We want to achieve our goal of having 1 in 2 New Zealanders be aware of our nationwide goal to eradicate introduced predators so that nature and people can thrive.

Introduced predators are one of the key threats to native species.

But many Kiwis don’t realise how bad the situation is – 80% think nature is in good shape.

Why we need Predator Free 2050 

Many of our native species are found nowhere else in the world. They evolved for millions of years without mammal predators or defences against them. 

We’ve got cheeky parrots, ancient frogs, army-crawling bats and ground foraging birds. But many of them are living on the edge of extinction due to threats like introduced predators.

Rats, possums, feral cats and mustelids (stoats, ferrets, weasels) kill an estimated 25 million native birds each year.

Predator Free 2050 aims to remove these harmful predators once and for all so that our unique plants and animals can thrive alongside us.

And everyone has a role to play.  

You can get involved in the predator free movement by learning to trap, visiting your local sanctuary, or donating a trap to a predator-free group.

Special thanks to the Royal New Zealand Ballet and Zealandia

We also wanted to share a special thank you to the ballet for supporting the Let Nature Go Wild campaign by choreographing native species dance moves and sharing their talent with us. We also wanted to thank Zealandia for offering their predator-free sanctuary as the filming location.

MIL OSI