What collection keeps these?? (Presumably some falconry/bop centre in Europe?) Is there a small breeding population or just aged imports from long ago?
New Zealand animals in overseas zoos
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
ZTL has one current listing in Germany, a Vogelpark in Olching, and two falconry centres in the UK. They were originally exported from NZ in 1983. See this post I made ten years ago: New Zealand Species Held Overseas
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There is an earlier iteration of this thread from over 10 years ago that has some historical data of what New Zealand species have been in zoos in the 21st century and earlier: New Zealand Species Held Overseas
With Zootierliste going global last year as well as my own increasing interest in the wildlife of New Zealand, I think now it is time to update this thread.
Birds:
Overall the number of species endemic to New Zealand in collections worldwide has decreased with brown teal, Weka and Brothers island tuatara disappearing from collections outside of New Zealand. In 2015 the last Blue Duck died at WWT Arundel. An article on WWT Arundel's website from 2012 states that "New Zealand no longer exports this species". It is rather unlikely that new imports will happen anytime soon for not only Blue Ducks but other endemic species.
Wilhelma last imported Kaka in 1995 and last bred them in 2003. Given that kaka have a wild life span of 20 years and a captive one of 25 - 27 years their sole female kaka is likely from the clutch bred in 2003. Unfortunately it seems like the Northern brown kaka is likely to be the next casualty on the list. On the other hand kea especially in Europe have begun to be a common site in zoos across the continent.
This trajectory is only likely to continue and with the possibility of imports low this trajectory is unlikely to continue.
Birds:
Northern brown kiwi (16 holdings)
Fiordland crested penguin (1 holding – Taronga Zoo in Sydney have a breeding colony)
Paradise Shelduck (32 holdings)
New Zealand Shoveller (20 holdings)
New Zealand Scaup (16 holdings)
Kea (83 holdings)
North Island Kaka (1 holding – 0.1 at Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart)
Red crowned Kakariki (80 holdings)
Yellow crowned kakariki (26 holdings)
ReptilesFiordland crested penguin (1 holding – Taronga Zoo in Sydney have a breeding colony)
Paradise Shelduck (32 holdings)
New Zealand Shoveller (20 holdings)
New Zealand Scaup (16 holdings)
Kea (83 holdings)
North Island Kaka (1 holding – 0.1 at Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart)
Red crowned Kakariki (80 holdings)
Yellow crowned kakariki (26 holdings)
Northern Tuatara (7 holdings)
New Zealand tree gecko (1 holding – behind the scenes of Koln zoo)
Overall Thoughts New Zealand tree gecko (1 holding – behind the scenes of Koln zoo)
Overall the number of species endemic to New Zealand in collections worldwide has decreased with brown teal, Weka and Brothers island tuatara disappearing from collections outside of New Zealand. In 2015 the last Blue Duck died at WWT Arundel. An article on WWT Arundel's website from 2012 states that "New Zealand no longer exports this species". It is rather unlikely that new imports will happen anytime soon for not only Blue Ducks but other endemic species.
Wilhelma last imported Kaka in 1995 and last bred them in 2003. Given that kaka have a wild life span of 20 years and a captive one of 25 - 27 years their sole female kaka is likely from the clutch bred in 2003. Unfortunately it seems like the Northern brown kaka is likely to be the next casualty on the list. On the other hand kea especially in Europe have begun to be a common site in zoos across the continent.
This trajectory is only likely to continue and with the possibility of imports low this trajectory is unlikely to continue.
My local zoo has kiwi
Taronga Zoo has a colony of seven (2.4.1) Fiordland crested penguins.
The colony is comprised of five founders and two Taronga bred penguins (hatched 2024), one of which was confirmed as a female in an update earlier this year.
Is there a lack of international interest in New Zealand species, are they prohibitively difficult to manage or are they simply difficult to import? I realize this answer will likely vary for species and there's a few I have some insight from asking previously, but I would be curious to know more nonetheless.
You've omitted Northland Green Gecko, which is offshow at Koln and Solingen, and onshow at Vienna.
Although of course they are no longer recognised as distinct.
A more refined and complete list of the species native to New Zealand found in collections outside of New Zealand
Birds:
Northern brown kiwi (17 holdings)
Fiordland crested penguin (1 holding – 2.4.1 at Taronga Zoo in Sydney)
Paradise Shelduck (32 holdings)
New Zealand Shoveller (20 holdings)
New Zealand Scaup (16 holdings)
Kea (83 holdings)
North Island Kaka (1 holding – 0.1 at Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart)
Red crowned Kakariki (80 holdings)
Yellow crowned kakariki (26 holdings)
Reptiles
Northern Tuatara (7 holdings)
New Zealand tree gecko (1 holding – behind the scenes of Koln zoo)
Northland green gecko (4 holdings – only on show in Tiergarten Schonbrunn and possibly Yekaterinburg Zoopark)
Birds:
Northern brown kiwi (17 holdings)
Fiordland crested penguin (1 holding – 2.4.1 at Taronga Zoo in Sydney)
Paradise Shelduck (32 holdings)
New Zealand Shoveller (20 holdings)
New Zealand Scaup (16 holdings)
Kea (83 holdings)
North Island Kaka (1 holding – 0.1 at Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart)
Red crowned Kakariki (80 holdings)
Yellow crowned kakariki (26 holdings)
Reptiles
Northern Tuatara (7 holdings)
New Zealand tree gecko (1 holding – behind the scenes of Koln zoo)
Northland green gecko (4 holdings – only on show in Tiergarten Schonbrunn and possibly Yekaterinburg Zoopark)