zooboy28
Well-Known Member
OK, not a review as such, as I last visited in 2008, and a review would be inappropriate, but I thought I would put a little description of this wildlife park up, as there is little info about it on ZooChat.
Official Website: Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park
Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park is located near the NZ tourist Mecca of Rotorua, and opened in 1939, making it one of NZ's oldest private zoos, if not the oldest. The animals at the park are either native, feral or domestic, the only true exotics are the lions.
Upon entry, one path takes you to the African Lion exhibit, a circular-ish fenced enclosure, which can be completely circumnavigated (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/african-lions-paradise-valley-springs-294617/). There is a small, concrete-block lion house you can look into too. The area is large, with small hills, rocks, caves, logs and grass, but little in the way of shade vegetation (not a problem most of the year), and it would be difficult for the animals to avoid each other (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/african-lion-paradise-valley-springs-294616/).
ZooChat threads on Paradise Valley's lions:
http://www.zoochat.com/17/dangerous-looking-zoo-100172/
http://www.zoochat.com/17/another-lion-cub-rotorua-168043/
http://www.zoochat.com/17/paradise-valley-springs-new-lion-cub-146223/
The parks founding lions were retired Australian circus lions, imported from Australia. I don't know if there have been any new blood since then. The park has a strong breeding record, and has supplied lions to many NZ and Australian zoos, and recently to Bali too.
Retracing your steps takes you back to the entry building, from which you can follow a loop through the rest of the park. Most animals in this part of the park can be fed pellets. I can't remember the exact layout, so this may not be entirely accurate.
The first exhibits are located within a grassy lawn, bordered by native bush. One one side are three cages, one very dark and holding a pair of Brush-tailed Possums. The other two are aviaries, with several layers of mesh which makes photography extremely difficult. One holds a group of Kea, the other a flock of Red-crowned Parakeets. The Kea aviary was extended in late-2008, and is now walk-through.
Opposite is another small cage, also with heavy, multi-layered mesh. This is ~4m by 4m, and peaks in the centre, reaching ~2.5m, and only ~1.5m at the edges. This is where the lion cubs are kept. Visitors are allowed in three times a day to interact with the cubs, when there are some of suitable age available (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/lion-cub-paradise-valley-springs-294621/). This is basically just posing with them and patting their backs. There is a keeper present always, who moves the cub/s away from visitors if they get too boisterous.
Leaving this clearing, you enter the bush, where there is a low-walled paddock, for Captain Cookers (Pigs). This is within the woodland, and there are some large trees in the enclosure too, but most of it is mud. Next door is an open paddock for a herd of Fallow Deer, followed by an open hillside paddock for two male Himalayan Tahr (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/himalayan-tahr-paradise-valley-springs-294618/), which were wild-caught and are much more impressive than those I have seen elsewhere (e.g. Taronga).
The path leads back into the forest, and past a seies of shallow ponds for Rainbow and Brown Trout. These are very full, and each has a different age class of trout, so you can see juveniles right through to very large adults (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/rainbow-trout-paradise-valley-springs-294619/). A path then leads through the native bush, and a new "tree-tops trail" has been built in here (I haven't seen this open), which allows visitors to walk through the canopy, and presumably have a better chance of spotting native birdlife. Many trees are labelled. The path then leads past some deep pools that are home to native Long-fin and Short-fin Eels, and then down into a cave, which features underwater viewing of large Rainbow Trout.
The path then leads out of the bush, and into the wetlands area. Boardwalks lead around enclosures and ponds, and bridges pass over small streams. The main enclosure here houses Tammar Wallabies, which are also friendly (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/tammar-wallaby-paradise-valley-springs-294620/), while the surrounding ponds house Paradise Shelducks, Grey Teal, NZ Scaup, Mallards and Black Swans. There are also more eels in some of the ponds.
The final area is a series of paddocks for domestic species, including Alpaca, Kune Kune Pigs, Donkeys, Miniature Horses, Sheep and Goats, as well as Turkeys, Ducks and Geese. The park returns to the clearing near the entry building, which features a small cafe and souviner shop.
Overall, the park is nice, the enclosures are perfectly suitable for the inhabitants, and the new additions (kea walk-through, tree-tops trail) seem great, although I don't know of any substantial additions since these were completed end 2008. Being near Rotorua, it caters mostly to tourists, and I think a lot of bus tours stop here. It isn't cheap, and certainly isn't as polished as its major competitor Rainbow Springs (in Rotorua itself), but it is well-woth a visit, if just for the awesome Tahr.
Official Website: Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park
Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park is located near the NZ tourist Mecca of Rotorua, and opened in 1939, making it one of NZ's oldest private zoos, if not the oldest. The animals at the park are either native, feral or domestic, the only true exotics are the lions.
Upon entry, one path takes you to the African Lion exhibit, a circular-ish fenced enclosure, which can be completely circumnavigated (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/african-lions-paradise-valley-springs-294617/). There is a small, concrete-block lion house you can look into too. The area is large, with small hills, rocks, caves, logs and grass, but little in the way of shade vegetation (not a problem most of the year), and it would be difficult for the animals to avoid each other (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/african-lion-paradise-valley-springs-294616/).
ZooChat threads on Paradise Valley's lions:
http://www.zoochat.com/17/dangerous-looking-zoo-100172/
http://www.zoochat.com/17/another-lion-cub-rotorua-168043/
http://www.zoochat.com/17/paradise-valley-springs-new-lion-cub-146223/
The parks founding lions were retired Australian circus lions, imported from Australia. I don't know if there have been any new blood since then. The park has a strong breeding record, and has supplied lions to many NZ and Australian zoos, and recently to Bali too.
Retracing your steps takes you back to the entry building, from which you can follow a loop through the rest of the park. Most animals in this part of the park can be fed pellets. I can't remember the exact layout, so this may not be entirely accurate.
The first exhibits are located within a grassy lawn, bordered by native bush. One one side are three cages, one very dark and holding a pair of Brush-tailed Possums. The other two are aviaries, with several layers of mesh which makes photography extremely difficult. One holds a group of Kea, the other a flock of Red-crowned Parakeets. The Kea aviary was extended in late-2008, and is now walk-through.
Opposite is another small cage, also with heavy, multi-layered mesh. This is ~4m by 4m, and peaks in the centre, reaching ~2.5m, and only ~1.5m at the edges. This is where the lion cubs are kept. Visitors are allowed in three times a day to interact with the cubs, when there are some of suitable age available (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/lion-cub-paradise-valley-springs-294621/). This is basically just posing with them and patting their backs. There is a keeper present always, who moves the cub/s away from visitors if they get too boisterous.
Leaving this clearing, you enter the bush, where there is a low-walled paddock, for Captain Cookers (Pigs). This is within the woodland, and there are some large trees in the enclosure too, but most of it is mud. Next door is an open paddock for a herd of Fallow Deer, followed by an open hillside paddock for two male Himalayan Tahr (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/himalayan-tahr-paradise-valley-springs-294618/), which were wild-caught and are much more impressive than those I have seen elsewhere (e.g. Taronga).
The path leads back into the forest, and past a seies of shallow ponds for Rainbow and Brown Trout. These are very full, and each has a different age class of trout, so you can see juveniles right through to very large adults (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/rainbow-trout-paradise-valley-springs-294619/). A path then leads through the native bush, and a new "tree-tops trail" has been built in here (I haven't seen this open), which allows visitors to walk through the canopy, and presumably have a better chance of spotting native birdlife. Many trees are labelled. The path then leads past some deep pools that are home to native Long-fin and Short-fin Eels, and then down into a cave, which features underwater viewing of large Rainbow Trout.
The path then leads out of the bush, and into the wetlands area. Boardwalks lead around enclosures and ponds, and bridges pass over small streams. The main enclosure here houses Tammar Wallabies, which are also friendly (http://www.zoochat.com/1793/tammar-wallaby-paradise-valley-springs-294620/), while the surrounding ponds house Paradise Shelducks, Grey Teal, NZ Scaup, Mallards and Black Swans. There are also more eels in some of the ponds.
The final area is a series of paddocks for domestic species, including Alpaca, Kune Kune Pigs, Donkeys, Miniature Horses, Sheep and Goats, as well as Turkeys, Ducks and Geese. The park returns to the clearing near the entry building, which features a small cafe and souviner shop.
Overall, the park is nice, the enclosures are perfectly suitable for the inhabitants, and the new additions (kea walk-through, tree-tops trail) seem great, although I don't know of any substantial additions since these were completed end 2008. Being near Rotorua, it caters mostly to tourists, and I think a lot of bus tours stop here. It isn't cheap, and certainly isn't as polished as its major competitor Rainbow Springs (in Rotorua itself), but it is well-woth a visit, if just for the awesome Tahr.