Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2025

[Zoofan15]

Hamadryas Baboon Birth

I visited Auckland Zoo yesterday and was excited to hear the Hamadryas baboon troop had a new infant! Needless to say, I headed straight for the baboon exhibit to check it out.

The infant was unplanned and was born to Iniko, who was herself an unplanned infant born at Auckland Zoo in 2020.

The troop (as always) made for a lively exhibit and the infant was attracting huge crowds. I often refer to the baboons as the zoo’s third most popular exhibit after tigers and orangutans; but yesterday, the new infant was drawing crowds that exceeded both. I honestly have to wonder why the zoo would even consider phasing this species out.

Photos from my visit are here:

Auckland Zoo - ZooChat

 

[ApeLadyNZ]

Hamadryas Baboon Birth

I visited Auckland Zoo yesterday and was excited to hear the Hamadryas baboon troop had a new infant! Needless to say, I headed straight for the baboon exhibit to check it out.

The infant was unplanned and was born to Iniko, who was herself an unplanned infant born at Auckland Zoo in 2020.

The troop (as always) made for a lively exhibit and the infant was attracting huge crowds. I often refer to the baboons as the zoo’s third most popular exhibit after tigers and orangutans; but yesterday, the new infant was drawing crowds that exceeded both. I honestly have to wonder why the zoo would even consider phasing this species out.

Photos from my visit are here:

Auckland Zoo - ZooChat

This is great news - must go and see the newcomer on my next zoo visit! Hopefully now the zoo will reconsider the idea of phasing out the baboons. Not only because of the new infant, but because, as you've mentioned, they're quite the attraction and because they're the only breeding group of African primates at Auckland Zoo.

 

[Zoofan15]

Rhino Nyah has begun crate training:

Female Southern white rhinoceros Nyah has begun crate training in preparation for her eventual export to Australia.

It’ll be interesting to see where she goes. Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Monarto Safari Park appear the most likely options based on their capacity and current holdings.

Rhino Nyah turns five | Auckland Zoo News

On this day in 2020, southern white rhino Jamila gave birth (in minutes of her waters breaking!) to her first offspring Nyah, who was up and walking in less than half an hour.

Nyah has grown into a wonderful older sister and playmate to female Amali (almost three years old) and male Zuka (seven months). Now close to her mother in size, she tips the scales at 1638kg - over 25 times her birth weight!

At five years old, Nyah has reached sexual maturity, and with important genetics passed on from her parents, in the near future she will relocate to an Australian zoo as part of the ZAA regional breeding and advocacy programme for this species.

“Nyah is now super happy walking into and backing out of her transport crate and having us shut its door – and being so food motivated, loves the lucerne rewards she gets for doing this! We have a few more steps to complete her crate training that we’ll be introducing over the coming weeks and months. Using our training chute area, we’re also now training Nyah to be comfortable with us taking blood draws from her – ahead of blood tests we’ll need to do as part of the standard pre-export quarantine process,” says Jess.

 

[ApeLadyNZ]

Rhino Nyah has begun crate training:

Female Southern white rhinoceros Nyah has begun crate training in preparation for her eventual export to Australia.

It’ll be interesting to see where she goes. Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Monarto Safari Park appear the most likely options based on their capacity and current holdings.

Rhino Nyah turns five | Auckland Zoo News

On this day in 2020, southern white rhino Jamila gave birth (in minutes of her waters breaking!) to her first offspring Nyah, who was up and walking in less than half an hour.

Nyah has grown into a wonderful older sister and playmate to female Amali (almost three years old) and male Zuka (seven months). Now close to her mother in size, she tips the scales at 1638kg - over 25 times her birth weight!

At five years old, Nyah has reached sexual maturity, and with important genetics passed on from her parents, in the near future she will relocate to an Australian zoo as part of the ZAA regional breeding and advocacy programme for this species.

“Nyah is now super happy walking into and backing out of her transport crate and having us shut its door – and being so food motivated, loves the lucerne rewards she gets for doing this! We have a few more steps to complete her crate training that we’ll be introducing over the coming weeks and months. Using our training chute area, we’re also now training Nyah to be comfortable with us taking blood draws from her – ahead of blood tests we’ll need to do as part of the standard pre-export quarantine process,” says Jess.

This is interesting news! It'll be sad to see Nyah depart - she was a ray of hope during very trying times when she was born - but her eventual breeding will contribute valuable genetics to the Australasian white rhino population. It will be interesting to see where she is sent and which male will be a good match for her. I do hope she will be as successful a mother as Jamila!

 

[Zoofan15]

This is interesting news! It'll be sad to see Nyah depart - she was a ray of hope during very trying times when she was born - but her eventual breeding will contribute valuable genetics to the Australasian white rhino population. It will be interesting to see where she is sent and which male will be a good match for her. I do hope she will be as successful a mother as Jamila!

Nyah’s birth was very exciting as Auckland Zoo’s first birth of the species since 2000. It’s been good to see Zambezi and Jamila welcome two more calves, with hope of Jamila conceiving her fourth calf this year.

The unexpected deaths of Mazithi and Mbili effectively ended Auckland’s hopes of establishing a breeding herd in the 2000’s, but they’ve certainly found success with this pair.

Since estrus suppression is now a well recognised phenomenon (especially between mothers and daughters), in hindsight it’s possible Auckland’s previous dynamic (Mazithi and her two daughters) would have failed to yield success. Aside from the obvious (Hamilton doesn’t have an unrelated bull), this is the reason for Nyah’s export.

 

[ApeLadyNZ]

Nyah’s birth was very exciting as Auckland Zoo’s first birth of the species since 2000. It’s been good to see Zambezi and Jamila welcome two more calves, with hope of Jamila conceiving her fourth calf this year.

The unexpected deaths of Mazithi and Mbili effectively ended Auckland’s hopes of establishing a breeding herd in the 2000’s, but they’ve certainly found success with this pair.

Since estrus suppression is now a well recognised phenomenon (especially between mothers and daughters), in hindsight it’s possible Auckland’s previous dynamic (Mazithi and her two daughters) would have failed to yield success. Aside from the obvious (Hamilton doesn’t have an unrelated bull), this is the reason for Nyah’s export.

Zambezi and Jamila have had phenomenal success with their calves, and I too am hoping there will be a fourth calf.

Nyah's birth, and to a lesser extent, the birth of baboon Iniko. were bright spots on the social media landscape during a pretty dark time. So much of the zoo's development was irrevocably changed by the pandemic, such as the export of female baboons to Singapore and the import of 2 female orangutans from the Czech Republic both being cancelled, which in turn led to another baboon infant, Jabari, being born in Auckland, and the breeding programme deciding to allow incumbent Bornean orangutan Melur to breed again, resulting in the birth of Bahmi.

 

[Jambo]

It’ll be interesting to see where she goes. Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Monarto Safari Park appear the most likely options based on their capacity and current holdings.

Dubbo especially could do with an additional breeding cow, with the only viable cow they currently have being 29 year old Mopani. Dubbo also recently acquired a wildborn, unrepresented bull in Satara, who'd they be keen on breeding from - an additional cow to pair him with would be beneficial in that manner.

Monarto have seemingly struggled with estrus suppression, so have recently separated their herd into smaller groups to help achieve better breeding results. Therefore, I would be surprised if Nyah ended up there.

 

[Zorro]

Dubbo especially could do with an additional breeding cow, with the only viable cow they currently have being 29 year old Mopani. Dubbo also recently acquired a wildborn, unrepresented bull in Satara, who'd they be keen on breeding from - an additional cow to pair him with would be beneficial in that manner.

Monarto have seemingly struggled with estrus suppression, so have recently separated their herd into smaller groups to help achieve better breeding results. Therefore, I would be surprised if Nyah ended up there.

What I am surprised with is why it took so long for Monarto to do anything before now, also as to why its taken this long before the whole regions white rhinos to get a shake up when closely related animals were kept in a non breeding situations when they could have been much better use elsewhere in the overall regions breeding program, It appears they could have been much better managed overall

 

[Zoofan15]

Breeding success for Awakōpaka skink:

Four Awakōpaka skink (three surviving) were born in April; with the second article noting a second adult female is potentially gravid.

Rare alpine skinks born at Auckland Zoo | Auckland Zoo News

Stuff

These first births are an exciting step for the awakōpaka project as this is an almost entirely unknown and unstudied species.

The awakōpaka (whose names means “the skink that lives in the footprints of mighty glaciers”) was only discovered in 2014 and is thought to be on the very precipice of extinction.

 

[Zoofan15]

Archey’s frog breeding update:

From socials:

We’re the only Zoo in New Zealand to care for Archey’s frogs!

Our ectotherm team have recently been renovating their habitats ahead of the upcoming breeding season. This refresh includes a new substrate, planting fresh native plants, new hides and creating possible spawning sites.

We have six breeding pairs of Archey’s frogs (12 individuals) that we’re hopeful might have offspring this season. We’ve also introduced more ‘foggers’ to maintain humidity without causing the habitat to become too wet. This mimics how the mist rolls off the hills at Pureora Forest, one of the wild sites where the species lives and where we assist the @docgovtnz in their conservation fieldwork.

 

[Zoofan15]

Alborn skinks arrive:

‘Nationally Critical’ Alborn skinks brought to the Zoo for safe-keeping | Auckland Zoo News

From socials:

We’re currently caring for three Alborn skinks in a special facility at the Zoo. This might be 10% of the entire population of this threatened species!

Our ectotherm keepers have been making annual trips to survey for Alborn skinks in their only known habitat, a small area of swampy forest near Reefton.

Our long-term population monitoring had indicated there were roughly 100 skinks in this area, but more recent estimates suggest a devastating drop to just 30 or so individuals remaining.

In autumn, we worked alongside DOC to collect skinks for safe-keeping at the Zoo, a precautionary measure while a new predator-proof fenced reserve is constructed. At this time, only three skinks could be found. We’ll continue supporting DOC with further surveys later this year and remain hopeful that more skinks will be detected when the weather warms.

 

[Smaggledagle]

Spoiler: Rehabilitation News

On March 12th, the zoo announced they helped rehabilitate and release 5 green sea turtles back into the ocean.

Auckland Zoo

On April 8th, the zoo announced they helped rehabilitate and release 4 more green sea turtles back into the ocean on March 26th.

24K views · 311 reactions | Great news - a second sea turtle release took place at Rangiputa Beach! Auckland Zoo vet Hannah and vet nurse Breeze attended the release of four turtles on 26 March, that had been cared for and treated at our veterinary hospital prior to transfer to SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium for rehabilitation. In March, a total of nine sea turtles were released here. Both releases were momentous occasions with the support of iwi Ngāi Takoto and Ngāti Kahu, and local kura. This mahi is thanks to the efforts of Team Turtle - a partnership between the Department of Conservation, Auckland Zoo, Kelly Tarlton’s and mana whenua - that seeks to treat and rehabilitate sea turtles that wash up ill and injured on our beaches. A massive thank you to the local community for reporting sightings of sea turtles in need. If you spot a sea turtle on land in Aotearoa New Zealand it is in need of veterinary attention, please let the experts know by ringing 0800 DOC HOT. Excitingly, five of the rehabilitated turtles were satellite-tagged as part of a ground-breaking study led by DOC. Did you know? When you visit our vet hospital viewing gallery at the Zoo you just might see an endangered sea turtle being cared for by our amazing team. Listen out to our PA during your visit, and pop over to the gallery to check it out! | Auckland Zoo

On August 7th, the zoo announced they rehabilitated and released a female (0.1) Australasian bittern into the wilds of West Auckland the week prior.

Auckland Zoo

* Worth mentioning that the zoo helped rehabilitate and release a New Zealand dotterel in July 2024, and a southern giant petrel in September 2024.

On September 8th, the zoo announced that 3 Gouldian finches hatched, which are now on display in the Australia Bush Track aviary.

Auckland Zoo

On September 12th, a news article came out that details the ongoing legal battle between the Auckland Zoo and the person who ran the former 'ZooDoo' charity.

Stuff

 

[Zoofan15]

Auckland Zoo News

Update from my visit (14/09/2025):

The lower end of the Southern white rhinoceros exhibit (including the waterhole) was closed off with signage noting the exhibit was under maintenance. The waterhole (previously the hippopotamus pool) is essentially wasted space, so I’m hopeful they’re filling it in to increase the useable space for the rhinos.

With regards to rhino groupings, Zambezi (breeding bull), Jamila (breeding cow) and Zuka (juvenile son) were on display. Zambezi and Jamila’s daughters (Nyah and Amali) were off display. Nyah has been kept seperate from her father for a while now and I assume Amali was grouped with her today for companionship purposes.

The Hamadryas baboon infant is thriving and seems to be well respected within the troop.

The barrier separating the Emu and Forester kangaroo has been removed.

Kidzone has reopened following renovations. There’s very little inside compared to when this building was open in the 2000’s.

Photos from my visit:

Auckland Zoo - ZooChat

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Auckland Zoo News

Update from my visit (14/09/2025):

The lower end of the Southern white rhinoceros exhibit (including the waterhole) was closed off with signage noting the exhibit was under maintenance. The waterhole (previously the hippopotamus pool) is essentially wasted space, so I’m hopeful they’re filling it in to increase the useable space for the rhinos.

With regards to rhino groupings, Zambezi (breeding bull), Jamila (breeding cow) and Zuka (juvenile son) were on display. Zambezi and Jamila’s daughters (Nyah and Amali) were off display. Nyah has been kept seperate from her father for a while now and I assume Amali was grouped with her today for companionship purposes.

Photos from my visit:

Auckland Zoo - ZooChat

High time that the 2 oldest cow calves from the breeding pair Zambezi * Jamila move on to another zoo fairly zoo or perhaps even either one to another.

 

[Zoofan15]

High time that the 2 oldest cow calves from the breeding pair Zambezi * Jamila move on to another zoo fairly zoo or perhaps even either one to another.

The plan is for Zambezi and Jamila to remain at Auckland Zoo, where they have a breeding recommendation for a fourth calf.

Nyah (their eldest daughter) is scheduled to transfer out. I heard Australia was the likely destination (my guess would be Dubbo).

Amali (their youngest daughter) will presumably transfer out herself in a couple of years. It wouldn’t surprise me if she went to Orana Wildlife Park, especially if they import a bull from Europe via Monarto as has been speculated. Orana otherwise only have one viable cow.

 

[Zoofan15]

Nepalese red panda update:

The red pandas have changed exhibits over the course of the last year. Tashi is now housed in the exhibit at the top of the zoo (near the vet centre); while Dalha is now housed in the bear pit exhibit (opposite the orangutans). Ramesh is now housed in an off display exhibit not visible to the public.

1.0 Ramesh (2015) Sagar x Bo - BOH
1.0 Tashi (2018) Ramesh x Khela - top exhibit
0.1 Dahla (2019) Ramesh x Khela - bear pit exhibit

Reported on socials.

 

[Zoofan15]

Brown teal ducklings hatch:

From socials:

Just a few weeks old, these Brown teal ducklings are full of energy and perfecting their paddling skills alongside their caring mum.

Pāteke (brown teal) are only found in New Zealand, and they’re one of our rarest waterfowl, with around 2,000–2,500 surviving today. We’re able to contribute to the species recovery through our involvement with the @docgovtnz’s brownteal breed-for-release programme. Collectively, partners of this programme produce around 150 - 200 juvenile pāteke each year for release into wild predator-controlled release sites.

Once these ducklings reach eight weeks of age, they’ll travel to @ICWTNZ. Here, they’ll join with other young pāteke and prepare for their next big step. Catch a glimpse of them at the Zoo in Te Wao Nui a Tāne / The Forest.

 

[Zoofan15]

Auckland celebrates birthday of oldest giraffe on record:

Rukiya the giraffe turned 24 years old this week and for a while has held the longevity record for her species at Auckland Zoo. She’s the oldest giraffe in New Zealand and could potentially beat the record holder (her mother, Tisa), who died at the age of 26 years at Wellington Zoo in 2017.

Auckland Zoo’s longest lived giraffes:

0.1 Rukiya (2001) 24 yrs, 0 mths, 3 days (alive)
0.1 Kay (1986-2008) 21 yrs, 8 mths, 20 days
0.1 Kinshasa (1980-2000) 20 yrs, 0 mths, 17 days
0.1 Willoughby (1960-1980) 19 yrs, 7 mths, 16 days
1.0 Zabulu (1998-2017) 19 yrs, 3 mths, 12 days
0.1 Kiri (1984-2003) 18 yrs, 7 mths, 27 days
0.1 Manyara (1983-2001) 18 yrs, 2 mths, 15 days
1.0 John (1958-1976) 17 yrs, 10 mths, 30 days

From socials:

We’re celebrating two towering birthdays!

Rukiya, who is the matriarch of our herd, recently turned an incredible 24 years old! And today her grandson Billy celebrates his 7th birthday.

Rukiya’s birthday is a significant milestone as giraffe can reach up to 25-30 years old. To ensure Rukiya continues to experience positive welfare in her twilight years, our ungulates keepers and veterinary team carry out regular geriatric assessments, as well as close daily observations looking closely at all aspects of the Five Domains of Animal Welfare. This care happens even at night! Our giraffe habitat and indoor areas have 24-hour CCTV installed that allow close monitoring of giraffe behaviour at all hours of the day – reviewing the previous night’s data every morning to ensure Rukiya gets quality rest.

Our keepers say that Rukiya remains playful and inquisitive, with a healthy appetite for fresh leafy vegetation.

Billy, standing at around 4.5 m (14 feet) is the tallest and only male in the tower. He’s fathered two calves with Kiraka – Jabali, who now lives at Hamilton Zoo and Enzi, who’s over a year and a half old. Billy has proven to be a patient, gentle father to both calves. With his darker colouring and impressive height, he’s easy to spot amongst the giraffes on the Africa Safari Track.

 

[Cassidy Casuar]

On Monday 6 October of this year, four non-releasable Little Blue Penguin that were housed BTS at Auckland Zoo arrived at Christchurch airport. They were later transported to the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Josef. The Centre's new penguin enclosure will display seven Little Blue Penguin in total when the enclosure first opens to the public; the other three penguins will be from the South Island Wildlife Hospital in Christchurch. The article below also states that the enclosure (the first for penguins that the Centre has ever had) has the capacity to hold as many as 22 of these penguins.

The Centre's new penguin enclosure is scheduled to first become open to the public today.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575238/little-blue-penguins-take-flight-to-new-west-coast-home

 

[Zoofan15]

On Monday 6 October of this year, four non-releasable Little Blue Penguin that were housed BTS at Auckland Zoo arrived at Christchurch airport. They were later transported to the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Josef. The Centre's new penguin enclosure will display seven Little Blue Penguin in total when the enclosure first opens to the public; the other three penguins will be from the South Island Wildlife Hospital in Christchurch. The article below also states that the enclosure (the first for penguins that the Centre has ever had) has the capacity to hold as many as 22 of these penguins.

The Centre's new penguin enclosure is scheduled to first become open to the public today.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575238/little-blue-penguins-take-flight-to-new-west-coast-home

On that note, on my last few visits to Auckland Zoo, I’ve seen very few penguins on exhibit. Auckland’s penguins have never made for an active exhibit; but it wasn’t unusual up until a couple of years ago to see a number of them huddled around the side of the pool.

I’d be interested to know if the four transferred out were short term residents that were treated in the vet hospital and then moved on; or whether Auckland Zoo is taking active steps to phase out their colony by transferring some of the younger penguins to a new facility (including the two chicks that arrived earlier this year). The exhibit is next to the pinniped pool (scheduled for demolition once the fur seal passes), so it’d come as no surprise to see the penguin exhibit phased out too. I’ll try and enquire on my next visit.