He’s been attacked by penguins, albatrosses, seals and grebes, but the publicity around being appointed to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit has made John Darby consider hiding under his bed.

John has been appointed to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to wildlife conservation and science today (Saturday December 31).

The Wānaka resident told the Wānaka App he was “very humbled and very surprised” by the honour.

“I feel I owe more to New Zealand than New Zealand owes to me,” he said.

John grew up in eight different orphanages in the UK, and was often in trouble for running away, including one attempt to run away to Australia.

He finally made it to New Zealand, alone, at the tender age of 17. 

He arrived as an immigrant farm hand, but his passion for science took him in a different direction.

“I always wanted to be a scientist or be involved in science and it happened to be natural history I absolutely loved.”

While John is well known in Wānaka for seemingly single-handedly revitalising the local population of grebes, he has a long involvement in New Zealand’s natural history.

He has dedicated 50 years to conservation and wildlife science in New Zealand, including three summers in Antarctica.

He took up the role of zoologist at the Otago Museum in 1969 and was appointed assistant director in 1971. He developed many science-based holiday programmes for children and senior students, including setting up ‘Discovery World’ at the museum, New Zealand’s first interactive science centre. 

John spent two decades researching the conservation needs of the yellow-eyed penguins (Hoiho) on the mainland and New Zealand Sub-Antarctic. 

In 1985, he negotiated the purchase by WWF of the largest breeding area of yellow-eyed penguins on the mainland, engineering the first fully protected area for this species. 

“I spent just on 20 years working on yellow eyed penguins so I think I was called the penguin guy,” he said, adding he doesn’t object to being called Wānaka’s ‘grebe guy’.

John says penguins have “a black belt in karate” and he has the scars to prove it.

He was a foundation trustee of the Otago Natural History Trust and the Yellow Penguin Trust; served as a board member of the Otago Science into Action project; and served on the Scientific Advisory Group for the Otago Conservation Board. 

While based in Dunedin, Wānaka became his family’s preferred playground for skiing and climbing and eventually he settled here permanently in 2004.

John has spent the past ten years on the conservation of the rare and threatened species of water bird, the Australasian crested Grebe (Puteketeke) in southern New Zealand. 

The Puteketeke project has been undertaken around Lake Wānaka, Lake Hāwea, Lake Hayes, and Lake Wakatipu, and John has assisted in the preparation of a management plan for the species.

Read more: John Darby: The grebe man

The project as a whole and the development of Wānaka’s lakefront grebe breeding area has given him “a great deal of pleasure”, he said.

“The only time I get stressed out is when a grebe is pecking me.”

He hopes one day to have more seats along the boardwalk so “people can sit and contemplate”.

“All the wildlife that we have down there will contribute a sense of tranquillity and peace.”

John is quick to share credit for the grebes’ new starring role in Wānaka.

“What we’ve done here is not just a one man event, it’s the support and help of a lot of people.”

He particularly thanked the “marina folk” for allowing him “to move into their territory”.

A former Guardian of Lake Wānaka, John has a passion for the conservation and uniqueness of the natural history of New Zealand and strongly believes in the need for effective and continuing communication to achieve this.

John said when he thinks back to where he came from and what he has been able to do he feels humbled.

“New Zealand has been so wonderful to me and so wonderful for me.”