Milford Sound Wildlife

Nature-lovers are in for a real treat when they tour Milford Sound.

This beautiful fiord is to be found in the south west of New Zealand's South Island, within Fiordland National Park and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. In this area of exceptional beauty, you can see landscapes of snow-capped mountains, rivers of ice, deep lakes, dense rainforests and grasslands. Animals and plants, once found on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana still exist in this area.

Highlights of Milford Sound Nature

On your day tour to Milford Sound, you will see many natural wonders from the road, during the cruise from the boat, and for those taking the flying option, from the air.

These may include:

Diverse flora and fauna with over 700 plants found only in Fiordland

Forests of red beech (nothofagus fusca), silver beech (nothofagus menziesii) and mountain beech nothofagus solandri)

Low-lying podocarp Fiordland forests with species of rimu, miro and totara flourishing amongst shrubs, ferns, tree ferns and epiphytes

Home to numerous New Zealand bird species including takahe, pukeko, kakapo, mohua and kea

Breeding habitats for shags, sooty shearwater, oyster catchers and gulls

Three species of dolphin including bottlenose dolphins, dusky dolphins and hectors dolphins

New Zealand fur seals (arctocephalus forsteri) are usually seen on Milford Sound cruises

Two species of penguins, the Fiordland crested penguin (eudptyes pachyrhynchus) and the little blue penguin (eudyptula minor). The Fiordland penguin is among the rarest in the world.

Find out more about experiencing Milford Sound nature with Milford Sound Select.