This thread will be about Kiwi Park, and will possibly also be about other nearby animal-related places that I may visit during a short holiday in Queenstown. Though there was the option of creating a separate thread for each place that I will visit, I understand that this has a risk of becoming obnoxious. I also understand that some people may think that it would make more sense to just create a travel thread after the holiday is over, but that is not my preferred way of recording my visits to animal places.
Today I visited Kiwi Park (or Kiwi Birdlife Park) in Queenstown. It is a facility that is mainly dedicated to the holding of endemic birds. It also has a few endemic reptiles and non-native animals. Regarding these non-native animals, the Common Brushtail Possum and Rainbow Lorikeet are kept for education about the impacts of invasive species in New Zealand. The Rainbow Lorikeet might not currently have a feral population in New Zealand, but there was a short-lived population in the Auckland region (where they are now illegal to privately breed in captivity) earlier this century, and more recently there have been possible sightings of multiple free-flying Rainbow lorikeets in Palmerston North (just north of the Wellington region). The park also has one pond each for Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout. Bee hives are maintained at the park for introduced Honey bees as well.
Among the endemic birds, the species that I was most interested in seeing were the Campbell Island Teal and the Antipodes Island Parakeet. I had not seen the Campbell Island Teal before and it is being phased out of all captive holding in NZ, as they have stopped being captive-bred following the species’ successful reintroduction to its native Campbell Island (owing to the eradication of rats from there). It is likely that Kiwi Park and Willowbank Wildlife Reserve are the only places where the species is still held captive. Apart from these places and within the Campbell Island group, the Campbell Island Teal can also still be seen on the island of Whenua Hou to the northwest of Stewart Island, where this teal was introduced into the wild with the intention of creating a temporary insurance population. That population of the species now appears to be tiny however and will likely die out in the near future.
As for the Antipodes Island Parakeet, I have possibly seen that species (captive only) before, but not recently and certainly without any photographs. To my knowledge this species is not being intentionally phased out of captivity, but regardless of this, the captive population is small and is likely to be in some danger of dying out.
__________
Details of my visit to Kiwi Park today (18th of January 2025):
Some highlights:
The Campbell Island Teal and Antipodes Island Parakeet happened to be in the same aviary as each other, and I managed to get okay views of both species. Their aviary is partially glass- and partially wire-fronted and is not walk-through/walk-in.
Next to the Kiwi enclosure of the smaller Kiwi house is a Tuatara room, which contains both an enclosure for large juvenile Tuatara and a small terrarium for three tiny baby Tuatara. These babies were easily the smallest Tuatara that I have ever seen (smaller than a Leopard Gecko).
A Ruru and a New Zealand Falcon both offered surprisingly good views.
Kiwi encounter:
There are two Kiwi houses at Kiwi Park; the larger one is where the Kiwi encounter takes place. Entering the larger Kiwi house for the encounter requires using a token (a wooden coin), which is provided when a visitor enters the park. The Kiwi encounter that I attended began at 10am. During the encounter, the presenter said that the larger Kiwi house currently houses 2.2 North Island Brown Kiwi, and that one of the males is a juvenile who is the first Kiwi to ever be hatched at Kiwi Park. It was also during this encounter that I achieved fantastic views of one of the female Kiwi, who was extremely active and probably would have collided with me if not for the low glass barrier. Both Kiwi houses strictly prohibit any photography (with or without flash), however.
Free-flight conservation show:
Presumably to maintain the element of surprise, there appears to be amazingly little written information about Kiwi Park's educational free-flight conservation show. It is also, of course, likely that the show features different species depending on the time of day and on which animals are available for it. In the case of the show that I visited, which began at 11:30am, the live animal species that were shown were a juvenile Tuatara, two Rainbow Lorikeet, a Common Brushtail Possum (which only left its carrying crate extremely briefly), and a Kererū. Part of this show also involved showing a taxidermy North Island Brown Kiwi to the audience. Before this specimen was revealed, the main presenter strongly implied that she was going to unveil a live Kiwi to the crowd. Yes, I fell for it.
Species that were not seen or signed within the park during my visit:
During my visit I was informed that it has been years since the death of the most recently held Black Stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae) at Kiwi Park and that the only way that the park can hold any more in the future is via unreleasable rehab birds.
At least one recent social media post from Kiwi Park shows them as holding Domestic Rat (Rattus norvegicus) but I saw no sign of them during my visit.
The current map of Kiwi Park shows a photo of a Naultinus gecko as being in/near the Tuatara room, and a photo of a New Zealand Australasian Shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis variegata) as being in the same aviary as the New Zealand Scaup. I saw no sign of the gecko; a small unsigned outdoor enclosure, right outside the Tuatara room, looked like it could have held geckos but I then noticed that there was a small juvenile Tuatara in it. The New Zealand Scaup aviary was completely unsigned from what I could see, and the only species that I saw in this aviary were New Zealand Scaup and a South Island Pied Oystercatcher.
Species list:
The following list is of the animals that Kiwi Park has on display or has signed as being on display, as far as I could ascertain from my visit today. Species that were signed, but which I did not see, are marked with an asterisk.
Native birds:
North Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)
Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos)
Pāteke (Anas chlorotis)
Campbell Island Teal (Anas nesiotis)
New Zealand Scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae)
Kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)
Pūkeko (Porphyrio melanotus) (possibly wild)
Buff Weka (Gallirallus australis hectori)
South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi)
Ruru (Ninox novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae)
New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae)
Kea (Nestor notabilis)
South Island Kākā (Nestor meridionalis meridionalis)
Antipodes Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor)
Red-crowned Kākāriki (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae)
Yellow-crowned Kākāriki (Cyanoramphus auriceps)
Tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae)
Endemic reptiles:
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Otago Skink (Oligosoma otagense)* (probably but not definitely sighted)
Grand Skink (Oligosoma grande)
Non-native animals:
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)* (probably but not definitely sighted)
Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Today I visited Kiwi Park (or Kiwi Birdlife Park) in Queenstown. It is a facility that is mainly dedicated to the holding of endemic birds. It also has a few endemic reptiles and non-native animals. Regarding these non-native animals, the Common Brushtail Possum and Rainbow Lorikeet are kept for education about the impacts of invasive species in New Zealand. The Rainbow Lorikeet might not currently have a feral population in New Zealand, but there was a short-lived population in the Auckland region (where they are now illegal to privately breed in captivity) earlier this century, and more recently there have been possible sightings of multiple free-flying Rainbow lorikeets in Palmerston North (just north of the Wellington region). The park also has one pond each for Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout. Bee hives are maintained at the park for introduced Honey bees as well.
Among the endemic birds, the species that I was most interested in seeing were the Campbell Island Teal and the Antipodes Island Parakeet. I had not seen the Campbell Island Teal before and it is being phased out of all captive holding in NZ, as they have stopped being captive-bred following the species’ successful reintroduction to its native Campbell Island (owing to the eradication of rats from there). It is likely that Kiwi Park and Willowbank Wildlife Reserve are the only places where the species is still held captive. Apart from these places and within the Campbell Island group, the Campbell Island Teal can also still be seen on the island of Whenua Hou to the northwest of Stewart Island, where this teal was introduced into the wild with the intention of creating a temporary insurance population. That population of the species now appears to be tiny however and will likely die out in the near future.
As for the Antipodes Island Parakeet, I have possibly seen that species (captive only) before, but not recently and certainly without any photographs. To my knowledge this species is not being intentionally phased out of captivity, but regardless of this, the captive population is small and is likely to be in some danger of dying out.
__________
Details of my visit to Kiwi Park today (18th of January 2025):
Some highlights:
The Campbell Island Teal and Antipodes Island Parakeet happened to be in the same aviary as each other, and I managed to get okay views of both species. Their aviary is partially glass- and partially wire-fronted and is not walk-through/walk-in.
Next to the Kiwi enclosure of the smaller Kiwi house is a Tuatara room, which contains both an enclosure for large juvenile Tuatara and a small terrarium for three tiny baby Tuatara. These babies were easily the smallest Tuatara that I have ever seen (smaller than a Leopard Gecko).
A Ruru and a New Zealand Falcon both offered surprisingly good views.
Kiwi encounter:
There are two Kiwi houses at Kiwi Park; the larger one is where the Kiwi encounter takes place. Entering the larger Kiwi house for the encounter requires using a token (a wooden coin), which is provided when a visitor enters the park. The Kiwi encounter that I attended began at 10am. During the encounter, the presenter said that the larger Kiwi house currently houses 2.2 North Island Brown Kiwi, and that one of the males is a juvenile who is the first Kiwi to ever be hatched at Kiwi Park. It was also during this encounter that I achieved fantastic views of one of the female Kiwi, who was extremely active and probably would have collided with me if not for the low glass barrier. Both Kiwi houses strictly prohibit any photography (with or without flash), however.
Free-flight conservation show:
Presumably to maintain the element of surprise, there appears to be amazingly little written information about Kiwi Park's educational free-flight conservation show. It is also, of course, likely that the show features different species depending on the time of day and on which animals are available for it. In the case of the show that I visited, which began at 11:30am, the live animal species that were shown were a juvenile Tuatara, two Rainbow Lorikeet, a Common Brushtail Possum (which only left its carrying crate extremely briefly), and a Kererū. Part of this show also involved showing a taxidermy North Island Brown Kiwi to the audience. Before this specimen was revealed, the main presenter strongly implied that she was going to unveil a live Kiwi to the crowd. Yes, I fell for it.
Species that were not seen or signed within the park during my visit:
During my visit I was informed that it has been years since the death of the most recently held Black Stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae) at Kiwi Park and that the only way that the park can hold any more in the future is via unreleasable rehab birds.
At least one recent social media post from Kiwi Park shows them as holding Domestic Rat (Rattus norvegicus) but I saw no sign of them during my visit.
The current map of Kiwi Park shows a photo of a Naultinus gecko as being in/near the Tuatara room, and a photo of a New Zealand Australasian Shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis variegata) as being in the same aviary as the New Zealand Scaup. I saw no sign of the gecko; a small unsigned outdoor enclosure, right outside the Tuatara room, looked like it could have held geckos but I then noticed that there was a small juvenile Tuatara in it. The New Zealand Scaup aviary was completely unsigned from what I could see, and the only species that I saw in this aviary were New Zealand Scaup and a South Island Pied Oystercatcher.
Species list:
The following list is of the animals that Kiwi Park has on display or has signed as being on display, as far as I could ascertain from my visit today. Species that were signed, but which I did not see, are marked with an asterisk.
Native birds:
North Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)
Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos)
Pāteke (Anas chlorotis)
Campbell Island Teal (Anas nesiotis)
New Zealand Scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae)
Kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)
Pūkeko (Porphyrio melanotus) (possibly wild)
Buff Weka (Gallirallus australis hectori)
South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi)
Ruru (Ninox novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae)
New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae)
Kea (Nestor notabilis)
South Island Kākā (Nestor meridionalis meridionalis)
Antipodes Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor)
Red-crowned Kākāriki (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae)
Yellow-crowned Kākāriki (Cyanoramphus auriceps)
Tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae)
Endemic reptiles:
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Otago Skink (Oligosoma otagense)* (probably but not definitely sighted)
Grand Skink (Oligosoma grande)
Non-native animals:
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)* (probably but not definitely sighted)
Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)