A new $12 million exhibit is set to open at Te Papa in Wellington which will feature more than 1000 items from New Zealand’s natural world.
Te Taiao Nature will showcase the scents from some of New Zealand's native birds including the Kiwi, kakapo and petrel.
Te Papa Curator Colin Miskelly says the idea behind the exhibition was to help better understand the reasons why our native birds smell the way they do.
"Part of the reason that we think that New Zealand birds are quite smelly compared with birds in other parts of the world, is that there were not ground dwelling mammals hunting by scent in New Zealand, so there was no downside to them being a bit smelly," says Mr Miskelly.
However Mr Miskelly says predators in our forests are threatening the survival of native birds.
The perfumer behind the smells at Te Papa, Francesco Van Eerd says creating these types of fragrances was not his usual line of work but he was up for the challenge.
"I love doing new and unusual things and this certainly falls into that category," says Mr Van Eerd.
So far, the perfume has been met with a mixed reaction from the public.
The Te Taiao Nature exhibition will be opening on May 11 and is free to the public.
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