The Endangered Species Foundation has launched a new campaign “We Love You, Even If You’re Ugly” to draw attention to the rarest of the rare here in Aotearoa and enable people to select an unusual and vulnerable species to gift or adopt as their own.

“They may not be pretty, but we believe that every part of the eco-system deserves a voice,” says Endangered Species General Manager, Natalie Jessup. “From giant weta fungus to the little-known fuzzweed moth - we celebrate the uniqueness of our most vulnerable species, even if they’re seen as ugly, or overly fuzzy. We love feral charisma.”

The Endangered Species Foundation engages people with Aotearoa’s most endangered species to ensure their survival. The chosen six species available for adoption are all from the top 40 most endangered list.

“We are here to be a voice for all creatures, like the polychaete worm, and the lowland longjaw galaxias, a small whitebait on the brink of extinction,” says Jessup. “This year we are inviting people to help our most endangered species by putting something different in their Christmas stockings”.

By adopting a weird and wonderful creature you will receive an adoption certificate and a link to more information about your chosen species. This year’s selection includes:

Giant weta fungus

Hamilton's frog

Chatham shag (yes you can gift a shag for Christmas)

Fuzzweed moth

Lowland longjaw galaxias

Holloway's crystalwort

Your donation will go towards protecting biodiversity in Aotearoa and enabling the balance that’s needed for all our taonga to survive and thrive. The Endangered Species Foundation is a voice for every part of every eco-system, from beautiful, charismatic megafauna like the Māui Dolphin, to the obscure and (some might say), less attractive Hamilton’s Frog, we believe that all things deserve to live.

Even if you’re ugly, tiny, strange or really, really fuzzy.

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