Wellington Zoo Wellington Zoo News 2020

This is an interesting change from the usual 'cute and fluffy' animal encounters most zoos seem to offer. Wellington Zoo have introduced a new animal experience for visitors that involves going behind the scenes at Hero HQ and meeting some of their invertebrates.

Full article: Wellington Zoo launches new Behind the Scenes experience - Australasian Leisure Management

Wellington Zoo has launched its new Minibeasts Behind the Scenes experience which will give visitors the opportunity to look behind the scenes at Hero HQ -, the Zoo’s reptile and invertebrate habitat - to see how Tarantulas, Giant African Millipedes, Emperor Scorpions and Goliath Stick Insects are cared for.,” says Team Leader of Reptiles and Invertebrates, Dave Laux.

Wellington Zoo Team Leader of Reptiles and Invertebrates, Dave Laux advises “Participants will hear about the important role that these Minibeasts play in their ecosystem, and hopefully discover a newfound passion for invertebrates.

“Many invertebrate species are elusive and can be difficult spot, so we’re thrilled to be able to offer this experience to visitors and get them closer than ever before to these amazing animals.”

Visitors will meet a few invertebrates up close during their Behind the Scenes experience and watch a Zoo Keeper health check a few of these species.
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Upgrade to the Giraffe Exhibit:

The giraffes of Wellington Zoo are being treated to a revamped enclosure and some new facilities, which will improve their quality of care and give better access to the public.

The 4000sqm enclosure received earthworks to increase the usable space, and a new barrier installed which allowed more than one giraffe at a time to put their heads over the top and interact with people.

Because of this, close encounters for the public were about to get a lot more interesting.

More details in article: Giraffes at Wellington Zoo get new facilities for health checks and close encounters

I’m looking forward to the improvements to the public encounters, always a highlight of a visit to Wellington Zoo; as well as the increased space as the commence breeding in the next couple of years. By that time, it’ll be almost two decades since their last giraffe calf (Zahara) was born.
 
Wellington Zoo have opened a new exhibit for Wellington Green Gecko right next to Hero HQ (their main reptile/invertebrate building):
Today we officially opened Te Piringa Iti, which is a new facility dedicated to the care and breeding of New Zealand reptiles, in particular Moko Kākāriki Wellington Green Geckos.
During the celebration, we also unveiled a new habitat and visitor experience space within the Zoo for Wellington Green Geckos.
If you’re planning a visit to the Zoo this weekend, come and check out our amazing new Wellington Green Gecko habitat next to Hero HQ. We’ve also planned a range of activities over the weekend for the kids so they can find out how they can protect our indigenous reptiles in their own backyard.
A special thank you to Mayor
Andy Foster for Wellington
, Neavin Broughton from
Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust
, Wellington Zoo Board of Trustees, conservation and funding partners, and special guests for joining us this afternoon.
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Wellington Zoo have opened a new exhibit for Wellington Green Gecko right next to Hero HQ (their main reptile/invertebrate building):
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That's nice. I will try and go either this or next weekend and photograph it (their article says that this weekend they are doing kids' activities there, so maybe I'll wait in order to avoid that...)
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Wellington Zoo have opened a new exhibit for Wellington Green Gecko right next to Hero HQ (their main reptile/invertebrate building):
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Chlidonias said:
That's nice. I will try and go either this or next weekend and photograph it (their article says that this weekend they are doing kids' activities there, so maybe I'll wait in order to avoid that...)
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I did end up going this morning. The new exhibit is rather smaller than I had anticipated but it is nice enough, although it suffers from the same reflection problems as the Hero HQ building. In the photo below I placed my camera lens cap next to the enclosure (at bottom left) so a scale could be determined.

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There are two geckoes on display, one in each enclosure. I only saw the one in the left-hand enclosure. It was quite active but wouldn't place itself in full view on the plants for a perfect photo. I've put two photos in the gallery, one of the gecko amongst the plants and one of the gecko climbing on the mesh between the two halves of the enclosure.

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Wellington Zoo have announced the arrival of 1.0 Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur called Kamory. He has been introduced to their other lemur, Ankari following the death of Lucky, a 24-year-old male a few weeks ago. The lemurs are now on-display as of today.
If you’ve visited the Zoo recently, you may have noticed that our two Black and White Ruffed Lemurs have been off display.
We recently welcomed Kamory, a 3 year old male Lemur to the Zoo after our elderly male Lemur, Lucky passed away a few weeks ago. Lucky was 24 years old and the father to Ankari. He was much loved by everyone at the Zoo, including being very popular with visitors during Close Encounters.
Ankari has been busy getting to know Kamory behind the scenes, and today the duo made their official debut in the Lemur habitat. Throughout the day they have been seen scent marking and doing loads of territory calls together which is great news.
Lemurs are very social animals so we’re thrilled to have Kamory join our Zoo whānau. Come and see Kamory and Ankari next time you’re visiting the Zoo.
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Wellington Zoo have announced the arrival of 1.0 Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur called Kamory. He has been introduced to their other lemur, Ankari following the death of Lucky, a 24-year-old male a few weeks ago. The lemurs are now on-display as of today.

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I assume this male came from Australia?

These were the Black and white ruffed lemur at Hamilton Zoo at the start of this year and Kamory wasn’t among them:

1.0 Mikaly (2008)
1.0 Ankoto (2012)
1.0 Sambava (2012)
1.0 Vazimba (2016) Sambava x Ayana
0.1 Ayana (2010)
0.1 Vezo (2016) Sambava x Ayana
 
Wellington Zoo have announced the birth of two Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys:
#BabyAlert! Two of our Squirrel Monkeys have given birth this week.

While it's still early days, both mums are doing a great job so far and visitors have been lucky enough to see the two newest additions clinging to their mums' backs at the Zoo this week.

If you're planning a visit to the Zoo this weekend, be sure to keep an eye out for our two baby Squirrel Monkeys!
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Wellington Zoo
 
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