Auckland Zoo Te Wao Nui Review

Kokakola11 said:
Review 3

UPDATES:
  • There are no Grey Teal, Pied Stilt or Kingfisher in the Wetlands anymore
  • There is no Orange-Fronted Parakeet Sign in High Country anymore. Instead there are Yellow Crowned and Red Crowned Parakeets in there
  • The Zookeepers say they are still hoping for Kokako, Saddleback and Orange-Fronted Kakariki
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Thanks for your review Kokakola, and the updates.

I do think they may have taken the grey teal out of the wetlands, but I do not know why (presumably incompatible with the other species, maybe paradise duck?). Possibly the pied stilt and kingfisher are future additions to the wetlands, if not there already.

Interesting that they have added other parakeets to the blue duck aviary, guess that the orange-fronteds plan feel through somehow. I expect the other species will arrive eventually.

Were the Archey's Frog on display in the Night Forest?
 
zooboy28 said:
I do think they may have taken the grey teal out of the wetlands, but I do not know why (presumably incompatible with the other species, maybe paradise duck?). Possibly the pied stilt and kingfisher are future additions to the wetlands, if not there already.

Interesting that they have added other parakeets to the blue duck aviary, guess that the orange-fronteds plan feel through somehow. I expect the other species will arrive eventually.

Were the Archey's Frog on display in the Night Forest?
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There was absolutely no sight of Grey teal, and the Keepers say there are plans for the Orange-fronted parakeet to arrive soon.
The Archey's Frogs haven't come yet.
 
I think they should put rock wrens in the high country exhibit as I have already seen plenty of keas in captivity and the rock wrens are endangered because stoats are invading the high country. Rock wrens are one of only two surviving wren species in New Zealand. I think its good to see a duckpond in New Zealand with no introduced mallards. Is the duck pond the old sea lion pond and does it still have the pointed rock in the middle that I remember when I was little?
 
Maguari said:
Ugh. No scientific names on the label. Please tell me the skinks, snails, eels etc have scientific names in place? Common names for these groups are so variable as to be almost meaningless if you're not previously familiar with them, and call me picky but I like to know what animal I'm looking at! Could be a mark down for the exhibit for me if not.
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try Wellington Zoo -- not a single scientific name on signage anywhere in the zoo. Maybe the zoos think that having two extra words on a sign will scare people off visiting.....
 
Chlidonias said:
try Wellington Zoo -- not a single scientific name on signage anywhere in the zoo. Maybe the zoos think that having two extra words on a sign will scare people off visiting.....
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Or even worse, those two extra words might attract people with a serious interest in animals. The marketing people would be worried - I fear that we don't fit their profile...:rolleyes:
 
zooboy28 said:
If all goes to plan there will also be another major species arriving in the future!
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I don't suppose you've heard anything more about whether these are still coming to the zoo, or when?
 
Pygathrix said:
It sounds like a fantastic exhibit. What do the words Te Wao Nui mean?
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literally it means "the great/large forest". On the Wikipedia article about the zoo (mostly written by NZJeremy from here) the translation is given as "our living realm" which is rather loose.
 
Chlidonias said:
try Wellington Zoo -- not a single scientific name on signage anywhere in the zoo. Maybe the zoos think that having two extra words on a sign will scare people off visiting.....
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It doesn't look like that has always been the case, although not strictly conforming to rules of nomenclature:
 

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zooboy28 said:
The Night Forest was still good, although still no sign of the Archey's Frog. Found out that the two kiwi exhibits are completely separated, with the first (with the illuminated moon) holding Moreporks, which (I really do have bad eyesight) I thought were the bats. The second kiwi exhibit has the bats, and apparently these don't actually ever fly in the exhibit, just crawl around on the ground and the tree trunks. We didn't see any sign of these, which is unsurprising if the volunteer I spoke to was correct (I have my doubts) who said there was only one in there. If so, I do wonder what happened to the 5.7 they used to have??? The Kauri Snail terrarium also contains Flax Snails (unlabelled), and I was assured that all shells (4 I saw) were inhabited. They have also now labelled the third freshwater fish tank as having Giant Kokopu, confirming my initial thoughts.
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I was just browsing through the species list on the Auckland Zoo website, and it says that they do have Archey's frogs off-display and "In the future, you will be able to see our Archey's frogs in The Night habitat in Te Wao Nui."

However the short-tailed bats are not on the list at all, which makes me wonder if they have all died (although the list is not exhaustive - it doesn't include the squirrel monkeys or giant weta, for example, which we know are at the zoo - the bats do seem like something they would include)
 
Chlidonias said:
I was just browsing through the species list on the Auckland Zoo website, and it says that they do have Archey's frogs off-display and "In the future, you will be able to see our Archey's frogs in The Night habitat in Te Wao Nui."

However the short-tailed bats are not on the list at all, which makes me wonder if they have all died (although the list is not exhaustive - it doesn't include the squirrel monkeys or giant weta, for example, which we know are at the zoo - the bats do seem like something they would include)
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Regarding the short-tailed bats, I find them hard to see (I have been to Auckland Zoo at least 10 times since Te Wao Nui opened, and have only seen them once!). All I saw was something dark speeding from one side of the enclosure to the other. If you blink, you'll probably miss them! This would have been about a month ago.
 
-The Archey's Frog exhibit is actually already installed in the Night Forest, but I guess it has yet to be populated. Don't know why there is a delay in their appearance, there are frogs already at the zoo.

-I don't know when the new 'major species' will arrive, I haven't heard anything about it, and suspect it may be a couple of years down the track.

-I would like to know a bit more about Auckland Zoo's bats, especially how many they have. Anyone able to check the ZAA census?
@Driftaguy, are you sure it was a bat you saw, and not a morepork? I don't think the short-tailed bats fly very quickly, and I know the morepork does speed from one end of the enclosure to the other. I don't know of anyone who has seen a bat in the Night Forest yet, even the volunteer that I spoke to last year wasn't too sure what she was looking for.

-I guess the Giant Weta will be added to an enclosure in the 'Islands' part of Te Wao Nui, can anyone confirm this? They could co-exist with skinks couldn't they? Although maybe not the larger species on display? What about geckos?

-Have there been any other adjustments to Te Wao Nui this year? Any new species or species removed? What is in the High Country aviary now?
 
zooboy28 said:
-I would like to know a bit more about Auckland Zoo's bats, especially how many they have. Anyone able to check the ZAA census?
@Driftaguy, are you sure it was a bat you saw, and not a morepork? I don't think the short-tailed bats fly very quickly, and I know the morepork does speed from one end of the enclosure to the other. I don't know of anyone who has seen a bat in the Night Forest yet, even the volunteer that I spoke to last year wasn't too sure what she was looking for.
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Yes, I am sure. The morepork are only in the enclosure on the left in The Night, with the bats being in the one on the right. I heard a zookeeper telling some people that the bats are very fast, and to stand back so there is no reflection and so the whole front of the enclosure is visible. When I saw one, she confirmed it.

Also, in case anyone is interested, the fruit bats are in an off-display enclosure because one was killed by rats.

zooboy28 said:
-Have there been any other adjustments to Te Wao Nui this year? Any new species or species removed? What is in the High Country aviary now?
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Last time I went, the High Country housed kea and weka.
 
zooboy28 said:
@Driftaguy, are you sure it was a bat you saw, and not a morepork? I don't think the short-tailed bats fly very quickly, and I know the morepork does speed from one end of the enclosure to the other. I don't know of anyone who has seen a bat in the Night Forest yet, even the volunteer that I spoke to last year wasn't too sure what she was looking for.
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driftaguy said:
Yes, I am sure. The morepork are only in the enclosure on the left in The Night, with the bats being in the one on the right. I heard a zookeeper telling some people that the bats are very fast, and to stand back so there is no reflection and so the whole front of the enclosure is visible. When I saw one, she confirmed it.
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there is a huge size difference between moreporks and short-tailed bats, so there should be no confusion between them. Have a look at the photo on here (that's an adult bat being held between the fingers): TerraNature | New Zealand Ecology - Short-tailed bat
 
I went to Auckland Zoo yesterday and went into The Night at about 4.40pm. I was the only person in there, and the bats were the most active I had ever seen. For about 30 seconds, I saw about 3 bats flying in the front of the enclosure, right by the glass. They slowed down before landing and were under the lights, so I could make out the shape and detail. It was awesome!
 
zooboy28 said:
-I guess the Giant Weta will be added to an enclosure in the 'Islands' part of Te Wao Nui, can anyone confirm this? They could co-exist with skinks couldn't they? Although maybe not the larger species on display? What about geckos?
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they will be displayed in "The Night" part of the area:
Auckland Zoo - Zoo welcomes giant weta from Little Barrier
24 May 2011

In a few months' time, Zoo visitors can look forward to discovering wetapunga when they go on display within Te Wao Nui's The Night (Te Pō) habitat.
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zooboy28 said:
-The Archey's Frog exhibit is actually already installed in the Night Forest, but I guess it has yet to be populated. Don't know why there is a delay in their appearance, there are frogs already at the zoo.
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I also happened across this link, saying there are 32 Archey's frogs at the zoo (off-display)
http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/conservation/new-zealand-species-projects.aspx
Auckland Zoo holds a colony of 32 Archey's frogs - the smallest of New Zealand's four endemic species. The transfer of Archey's frogs from Canterbury University was completed in 2007, and the colony represents both Whareorino Forest (King Country) and Coromandel populations, the only two locations this frog is found.

Like all frogs around the world, Archey's frog is threatened with extinction - due to large-scale habitat change, introduced pests, and more recently, the Chytrid fungus.

The Zoo's New Zealand fauna and veterinary teams have worked closely with DOC's Native Frog Recovery Group to establish this captive group to act as an insurance population against further declines in the wild. This colony is also providing valuable information on captive husbandry, and the potential for breeding additional frogs to supplement wild populations.

Auckland Zoo won the ARAZPA 2008-2009 award for our YEAR OF THE FROG Campaign, which highlighted frogs, in particular native frogs.
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Chlidonias said:
I was just browsing through the species list on the Auckland Zoo website, and it says that they do have Archey's frogs off-display and "In the future, you will be able to see our Archey's frogs in The Night habitat in Te Wao Nui."

However the short-tailed bats are not on the list at all, which makes me wonder if they have all died (although the list is not exhaustive - it doesn't include the squirrel monkeys or giant weta, for example, which we know are at the zoo - the bats do seem like something they would include)
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I have checked the census, and it shows that the zoo has 4.1 Short-tailed Bats, which is a bit of a drop from the 7.5 they started with, although I guess this was to be expected.
 
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