By RTL/ANP News··Modified:
from right to left
British-American talk show host John Oliver has brought global attention to New Zealand's Bird of the Year election by supporting the pūteketeke, an endangered bird species.
There is often a lot of international interest in these annual elections, but because of Oliver's action, the number of votes that would normally be cast in two weeks was cast in one day, according to New Zealand media.
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“Strange bird vomiting”
On his talk show Last Week Tonight, Oliver introduces the pūteketeke as a “bizarre bird that vomits in a colorful carpet.” The bird is known to eat hundreds of feathers and then spit them out. The pūteketeke is one of 75 birds in the annual online election.
Oliver wants the bird to win the election “in a historic way”, so he has launched a “shockingly aggressive” campaign. Billboards have been put up in New Zealand, Japan, France, India and the US state of Wisconsin. “Help us crown a real king” is the campaign slogan in Britain. A plane carrying pūteketeke advertisements has flown along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
“This is the essence of democracy: America meddling in foreign elections,” Oliver joked on his TV show, where a metre-high version of the “pūteketeke” game was also set up.
controversial elections
Previous editions of the contest have also caused controversy. For example, in 2020, a fraudulent vote was used to help a small grey kiwi win. Two years ago, a bat ran away with the winnings. And last year, the famous kakapo was not allowed to participate “to give a chance to less attractive candidates.”
The winner of the Bird of the Year election will be announced on November 13.
