Orana Wildlife Park Orana Wildlife Park News 2025

Zorro said:
Perhaps a pair of Hippos would be good to see there if they can work on a IRA for them
Click to expand...
ElephasMaximus said:
That'd be the dream. That probably wouldn't happen until some time after the masterplan is implemented though, if at all.
Click to expand...

The news article incorrectly reports this will be Orana Wildlife Park’s first masterplan, which we of course know is incorrect.

A three stage masterplan was previously designed, with the third and final stage supposed to take them into the 1990’s with Common hippopotamus and Common chimpanzee exhibits.

Though I agree it’s unlikely, Orana Wildlife Park would be the ideal location for Common hippopotamus given they have the space to build sizeable exhibits and manage breeding. That said, with breeding hopefully kicking off in Australia in the coming years, I anticipate a surplus would render Orana most valuable as a non-breeding holder.
 
Some other thoughts:
  • I doubt Orana intends to expand its collection of species from the Americas: not a lot of American species are available in NZ, and those that are, such as tamarins, aren't really suited to an open-range setting for the most part. Brown bears, grey wolves and pumas are legal to import, and could make for a great Rocky Mountains exhibit, but the ZAA shows no interest in those species and that's unlikely to change soon. Australasian zoos aren't interested in Northern Hemisphere temperate species, as a rule.
  • Asian species have a little more potential. Orana already has more taxa from the continent, and other potential Asian species would lend themselves well to an open-range exhibit, like Pere-David's deer. Orana has also housed orangutans in the recent past, and so could become a permanent holder in the future, especially if Auckland ends up with a surplus. This could be quite a neat arrangement: New Zealand houses Bornean orangutans while Australia houses Sumatrans.
  • Related to the above point, while we've been speculating about hippo in the future, I should point out that Asian Elephants still have a valid IHS in this country, and on that basis alone are a more feasible option. Orana has the space to house elephants, and only lacks the funds. Should this latter point change in the future, Orana would be the best place in NZ to house elephants, whether surplus from Australia or orphans from Sri Lanka.
  • One exhibit that could be very well suited for Orana is a Congo or African rainforest exhibit. We've recently talked on here about the potential for Auckland to create such an exhibit, but with the recent news that Auckland intends to use the old elephant exhibit to expand their savannah area, this option seems out the window. However, Orana already houses Gorilla, which are probably the most common anchor species for African rainforest exhibits, so they could use that as a basis from which to expand. They could move the lemurs to be near the gorillas, import colobus and De Brazza's monkeys from Australia, and source bongo from somewhere else. More speculatively, we've often thought okapi would enter Australasia through Auckland if they ever came at all, but with their larger spaces Orana might actually be more suitable. It could be a good point of difference for Orana from other zoos in the country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top