Willowbank Wildlife Reserve Willowbank Wildlife Reserve News

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Tygo

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Willowbank’s “Earthquake” Baby | Scoop News
Willowbank’s “Earthquake” Baby
Wednesday, 23 November 2016, 1:43 pm
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch proudly announces the safe arrival of their baby Siamang to mother, Sue, and father, Bujang, on Sunday.

With only around 30 Siamang gibbons in captivity in Australasia, the news of this arrival will be appreciated by all zoos in the region as success for an organised conservation breeding programme administered by ZAA (Zoo Aquarium Association).

Willowbank has one of only two breeding recommendations from this programme in NZ, because Bujang is a great genetic male and his offspring are important to the continuation of Siamang in the region. The only other NZ breeding pair is at Auckland Zoo, with Sue and Bujang’s son Intan, now aged 7, and his new mate Kira.

Bujang is also an old man in human terms, and at over 42 years old, Willowbank was unsure if he would have the ability to breed!

With a seven month gestation, Willowbank staff had a good idea Sue was pregnant, from previous experience, but it was stiil hard to confirm when she would be due. Early pregnancy tests had come back negative but these were human tests and it isn’t easy to take a urine sample from a Siamang!

As a precaution with the earth rumblings of late, special soft mats were placed on the floor within the Siamang’s den, in anticipation for the birth – and as protection for the baby from a fall. Thankfully, the birth went well, and mother and baby are happy and healthy.

Once the baby has been identified as male or female, its future life ahead will be planned. But for now and for many years to come, this beautiful baby will be kept with its mother and father and will be a much loved addition to Willowbank.
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update from the above forum:
I just called Willowbank and they say it was brought in and checked by a vet and then taken to Thomas Stracke & Kristina Schutt (Christchurch 'Penguin Rescue'). I then called them and Thomas said it is an Erect Crested Penguin. He says it was hyperventilating yesterday but after the vet check and a night in care in a cool place it is 'back to normal' now. They found it was underweight so they fed it some fish and they plan to look after it until it regains weight and then release it back into the wild at Flea Bay.
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Four male Capybara bred at Auckland Zoo arrived at Willowbank last week. They are sharing the enclosure with the Small-clawed Otter. (This was from Facebook, the post of which makes it sound like they only have one otter now but I don't know if that is correct or just poor wording).
 
Chlidonias said:
Four male Capybara bred at Auckland Zoo arrived at Willowbank last week. They are sharing the enclosure with the Small-clawed Otter. (This was from Facebook, the post of which makes it sound like they only have one otter now but I don't know if that is correct or just poor wording).
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The four Capybara are:

Pablo (born 07/06/2016) Kosh x Consuela
Diego (born 29/09/2017) Kosh x Rosita
Zorro (born 29/09/2017) Kosh x Rosita
Julio (born 29/09/2017) Kosh x Rosita

This article confirms there is only one remaining otter at Willowbank:

Jandi (born 07/04/2003) Nip x Jade

Four capybara join the family at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
 
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve are currently updating their nocturnal house for their kiwis. From their Facebook page:
Our kiwis are going to love their new home! Willowbank is lucky to have plenty of space for our kiwis, so before lock-down, our feathered friends were moved outside so we could get to work on updating the nocturnal house.

We’ve removed all of the old soil and are now magneting the new soil one scoop at a time to make sure no foreign matter makes it inside.

It’s a slow-going job but we know our kiwis and visitors will love the end result!
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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
 
Willlowbank Wildlife Reserve has reopened to the public today. From the zoo's Facebook page:
WILLOWBANK IS OPEN!

We are all so excited to be welcoming visitors back to the reserve (even if some of us look more intense than excited)!

We are now open every day from 9:30am - 5pm! We hope to see you soon!
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Willowbank has officially opened their renovated kiwi nocturnal house. They have a Great Spotted Kiwi and three North Island Brown Kiwis on-display. Various posts from their Facebook page:
We are so excited to announce that our Kiwi Nocturnal House will reopen tomorrow!

This little guy is a great spotted kiwi named Piki, and he is the only great spotted kiwi on display in the entire South Island!

Make sure you pop in to say hello to Piki and our three North Island brown kiwis residing in our nocturnal house!



Our Kiwi Nocturnal House is now open!

And Piki, our great spotted kiwi, is having a fantastic time investigating the updates to his home.

During the lock-down our team made a number of updates to the nocturnal house, including the addition of a clear window so visitors can get the best views of cheeky Piki and his kiwi friends.
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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
 
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve has received two Kaka - one from Dunedin Botanic Gardens and the other from Kiwi Birdlife Park. They will be receiving more Kaka with the intention of participating in the release programme at Abel Tasman National Park.
Look who's arrived!

Two new kaka have come from Dunedin Botanic Gardens and the Queenstown's Kiwi Birdlife Park in preparation for this coming breeding season.

We will be getting up to four kaka - 3 females and one male. The male will then get to choose his favourite female friend to breed with. This breeding is part of the release programme of kaka into the Abel Tasman National Park.
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Willowbank is currently constructing a new central habitat space situated in their exotics area. The section will feature a raised viewing boardwalk with new exhibits for their capybara, macaws and red-eared sliders. It is expected to be open by early 2021:
We are excited to show you progress on one of our redevelopments after many months of hard work! Located in the central area of the exotics section, this new immersive habitat space will be home to our capybara, macaws and red-eared slider turtles! The habitats feature a raised viewing boardwalk where you can enjoy watching the antics of the residents. Keep an eye out on further updates and for an opening date expected to be early 2021.
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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
 
A more thorough update from Willowbank's social media page regarding news from the past six months:

*a Haast Brown Kiwi hatched on 6th October: "meet Rīwai - Born on 6 October 2021, weighing in at 366.8g.Rīwai is a Haast Tokoeka Kiwi chick. In Māori, the name means 'potato' as the chick's egg was shaped like a potato!"

*a North Island Brown Kiwi hatched in early September: "we have a lockdown baby! Keeper Beth found this little darling fresh out of its egg when she arrived at work! This North Is brown kiwi came from an egg laid at Willowbank, that was partially incubated by the male kiwi and then the last short time has been in an incubator, under Beth's expert care. And it already has a name - Astro."

*a female North Island Brown Kiwi was transferred to Kiwi North in May: "this week "Disco" left us to be paired up with a male kiwi at Kiwi North. Disco is a North Island Brown kiwi that hatched at Willowbank last season. She has been living in the Nocturnal House with her sisters and brother."

*Okarito Brown Kiwi chicks were released March: "It takes a village to raise a child and rowi kiwi are no different! Hatched by the West Coast Wildlife Center, these chicks are then sent to us to grow up! They live with a buddy in predator free section of Willowbank. Once reaching 800g and given a full bill of health, Air New Zealand steps in to help the iconic flightless bird fly. The Department of Conservation team collect them from the airport, fit them with transmitters, and take them to a predator free island. Once released, they adapt to being wild kiwi! The pictures show you just a little part of their journey, leaving Willowbank and arriving on Motuara Island."

*Four Okarito Brown Kiwi chicks also hatched at Willowbank: "Introducing Galaxy! One of four rowi kiwi chicks hatched at Willowbank this season. This is Galaxy being introduced to peat moss in a brooder."

*interesting to note Willowbank currently house a pair of Citron-crested Cockatoos. They live with Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.
 
Update from my Visit (10/01/2023)

Capybara:

Willowbank now has a female Capybara. Maria was born at Auckland Zoo and transferred to Wellington Zoo when Auckland phased this species out:

0.1 Maria (27/08/2018)

Maria is housed in Willowbank’s smaller Capybara exhibit with a male. He is presumably one of these four males as three remain in the larger Capybara exhibit:

1.0 Pablo (07/06/2016)
1.0 Diego (29/09/2017)
1.0 Zorro (29/09/2017)
1.0 Julio (29/09/2017)

Since Maria is either the sibling or half sibling of these four males (same sire; two different mothers), I would assume this is a pairing for companionship purposes.

Lemur walk through:

The zoo are planning to construct a walk through lemur exhibit as part of their renewal plans. The walk through will include Black and white ruffed lemur and Ring-tailed lemur (both housed at the zoo).

Clearance of the site has begun within the Wild New Zealand precinct.

Photos from my visit can be found here: Willowbank Wildlife Reserve - ZooChat
 
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