This is a list of the on-display species from a visit yesterday (27 February). It's mainly for the benefit of overseas readers who might want to know what the zoo keeps. I know there are various species off-display (invertebrates, reptiles, etc; and also birds for the Flight Show) which I haven't included. I have included all species seen or signed as being present - I have noted which species I didn't see, although in some cases this was due to simply not looking for them (e.g. a lot of the NZ birds in the Forest Aviary).
Since my last visit the African Savannah has been modified somewhat and there has been addition of the walk-through lovebird aviary, which I liked. The Australian area has been largely remodeled and I mostly liked it - the Lace Monitor enclosure was very good I thought, but the second walk-through aviary (the one which connects with the rainbowfish aquarium) was far too small, especially with the numbers of weekend visitors. Newest in the zoo is the Orangutan / Siamang area with its overhead cables - I half liked this and half didn't; the choice of white path was a really bad idea under the Auckland summer sun! Next development, currently underway, is for Sumatran Tigers and the tropical house dome for False Gharial - the dome is larger than I thought it would be from the photos I'd seen.
The zoo is arranged in geographical areas apart for Lizard Lane (Blue-tongue Skink, Coastal Bearded Dragon, Jackson's Chameleon, Cunningham's Skink, and Scheltopusik) and the Red Panda / Small-clawed Otter / Ring-tailed Lemur cluster [which, looking at photos in the gallery, was actually part of the geographical Asian area because the enclosure which now houses the lemurs was previously for the Sumatran Tigers which the zoo currently does not hold]. However the species list is arranged roughly taxonomically to make it easier to see what they keep.
MAMMALS
Asian Elephant
White Rhino
Common Zebra
Giraffe
Nyala
Waterbuck
Orangutan
Siamang
Hamadryas Baboon
Emperor Tamarin
Cottontop Tamarin
Golden Lion Tamarin
[They should have Pigmy Marmosets too, but I didn't notice where they were - in a photo in the gallery they were housed with the Emperor Tamarins]
Bolivian Squirrel Monkey
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
Ring-tailed Lemur
African Lion
Cheetah (not seen)
Serval (not seen)
Red Panda
Small-clawed Otter
Meerkat
Subantarctic Fur Seal (honestly I didn't pay much attention here - I think the sign was actually for NZ Fur Seal, but their last of that species died last year, so the one here should be the Subantarctic Fur Seal)
South African Porcupine (not seen - I didn't see a sign either, although they are on the map with the Meerkats)
Capybara (not seen)
Tasmanian Devil
Red-necked (Bennett's) Wallaby
BIRDS
Ostrich
Emu
North Island Brown Kiwi (not seen)
Spotted Shag
Blue Duck
NZ Shoveller
NZ Scaup
Grey Teal
Brown Teal
Greater Flamingo
Brolga
Pied Stilt
NZ Dotterel
Spur-winged Plover (Masked Lapwing) (heard, but not seen)
Takahe (not seen)
Sacred Kingfisher (not seen)
[The zoo did have Common Kookaburra but they don't seem to be on display or signed anywhere - I think they may be used in the Flight Show and hence not on regular display]
Helmeted Guineafowl (not seen)
Masked Lovebird
Orange-fronted Kakariki
Red-crowned Kakariki (not seen)
Yellow-crowned Kakariki (not seen)
Antipodes Island Parakeet (not seen)
North Island Kaka
Kea
Rainbow Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Cockatiel (not seen)
Turquoisine Parakeet
NZ Pigeon (not seen)
Diamond Dove
Crested Pigeon (not seen)
Morepork (not seen)
Zebra Finch
Gouldian Finch
NZ Bellbird
Tui (not seen)
North Island Saddleback (not seen)
HERPTILES
Golden Bell Frog (not seen)
Tuatara (not seen)
Grand Skink
Otago Skink
Moko Skink (not seen)
Falla's Skink (not seen)
Chevron Skink (not seen)
Eastern Blue-tongue Skink
Cunningham's Skink
Duvauchelle's Gecko
Gold-stripe Gecko
Auckland Green Gecko
Jewelled Gecko
[The Rough Gecko was no longer signed and I didn't see it, so may be gone]
Eastern Water Dragon (not seen)
Coastal Bearded Dragon
Jackson's Chameleon
Scheltopusik
Green Iguana
Lace Monitor
American Alligator
Galapagos Tortoise
Leopard Tortoise
Eastern Snake-necked Turtle
FISH
NZ Long-finned Eel
Black Mudfish
Giant Kokopu
Banded Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia trifasciata)
Splendid Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia splendida)
Western Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia australis)
[Note that regarding specific identification for the visitors, the rainbowfish tank is simply labelled as "Rainbowfish, Melanotaeniidae"]
INVERTEBRATES
Andean Stripe-legged Tarantula (not seen)
Bolivian Blue-legged Tarantula (not seen)
Social Huntsman Spider
Australian Redback Spider
Goliath Stick Insect
Giant Weta
There are also fake Glow-worms in the nocturnal house in the NZ area.
Since my last visit the African Savannah has been modified somewhat and there has been addition of the walk-through lovebird aviary, which I liked. The Australian area has been largely remodeled and I mostly liked it - the Lace Monitor enclosure was very good I thought, but the second walk-through aviary (the one which connects with the rainbowfish aquarium) was far too small, especially with the numbers of weekend visitors. Newest in the zoo is the Orangutan / Siamang area with its overhead cables - I half liked this and half didn't; the choice of white path was a really bad idea under the Auckland summer sun! Next development, currently underway, is for Sumatran Tigers and the tropical house dome for False Gharial - the dome is larger than I thought it would be from the photos I'd seen.
The zoo is arranged in geographical areas apart for Lizard Lane (Blue-tongue Skink, Coastal Bearded Dragon, Jackson's Chameleon, Cunningham's Skink, and Scheltopusik) and the Red Panda / Small-clawed Otter / Ring-tailed Lemur cluster [which, looking at photos in the gallery, was actually part of the geographical Asian area because the enclosure which now houses the lemurs was previously for the Sumatran Tigers which the zoo currently does not hold]. However the species list is arranged roughly taxonomically to make it easier to see what they keep.
MAMMALS
Asian Elephant
White Rhino
Common Zebra
Giraffe
Nyala
Waterbuck
Orangutan
Siamang
Hamadryas Baboon
Emperor Tamarin
Cottontop Tamarin
Golden Lion Tamarin
[They should have Pigmy Marmosets too, but I didn't notice where they were - in a photo in the gallery they were housed with the Emperor Tamarins]
Bolivian Squirrel Monkey
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
Ring-tailed Lemur
African Lion
Cheetah (not seen)
Serval (not seen)
Red Panda
Small-clawed Otter
Meerkat
Subantarctic Fur Seal (honestly I didn't pay much attention here - I think the sign was actually for NZ Fur Seal, but their last of that species died last year, so the one here should be the Subantarctic Fur Seal)
South African Porcupine (not seen - I didn't see a sign either, although they are on the map with the Meerkats)
Capybara (not seen)
Tasmanian Devil
Red-necked (Bennett's) Wallaby
BIRDS
Ostrich
Emu
North Island Brown Kiwi (not seen)
Spotted Shag
Blue Duck
NZ Shoveller
NZ Scaup
Grey Teal
Brown Teal
Greater Flamingo
Brolga
Pied Stilt
NZ Dotterel
Spur-winged Plover (Masked Lapwing) (heard, but not seen)
Takahe (not seen)
Sacred Kingfisher (not seen)
[The zoo did have Common Kookaburra but they don't seem to be on display or signed anywhere - I think they may be used in the Flight Show and hence not on regular display]
Helmeted Guineafowl (not seen)
Masked Lovebird
Orange-fronted Kakariki
Red-crowned Kakariki (not seen)
Yellow-crowned Kakariki (not seen)
Antipodes Island Parakeet (not seen)
North Island Kaka
Kea
Rainbow Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Cockatiel (not seen)
Turquoisine Parakeet
NZ Pigeon (not seen)
Diamond Dove
Crested Pigeon (not seen)
Morepork (not seen)
Zebra Finch
Gouldian Finch
NZ Bellbird
Tui (not seen)
North Island Saddleback (not seen)
HERPTILES
Golden Bell Frog (not seen)
Tuatara (not seen)
Grand Skink
Otago Skink
Moko Skink (not seen)
Falla's Skink (not seen)
Chevron Skink (not seen)
Eastern Blue-tongue Skink
Cunningham's Skink
Duvauchelle's Gecko
Gold-stripe Gecko
Auckland Green Gecko
Jewelled Gecko
[The Rough Gecko was no longer signed and I didn't see it, so may be gone]
Eastern Water Dragon (not seen)
Coastal Bearded Dragon
Jackson's Chameleon
Scheltopusik
Green Iguana
Lace Monitor
American Alligator
Galapagos Tortoise
Leopard Tortoise
Eastern Snake-necked Turtle
FISH
NZ Long-finned Eel
Black Mudfish
Giant Kokopu
Banded Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia trifasciata)
Splendid Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia splendida)
Western Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia australis)
[Note that regarding specific identification for the visitors, the rainbowfish tank is simply labelled as "Rainbowfish, Melanotaeniidae"]
INVERTEBRATES
Andean Stripe-legged Tarantula (not seen)
Bolivian Blue-legged Tarantula (not seen)
Social Huntsman Spider
Australian Redback Spider
Goliath Stick Insect
Giant Weta
There are also fake Glow-worms in the nocturnal house in the NZ area.
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