Zoos and other animal collections of New Zealand

Hey Chlidonias, here is another one to add to your list (at least temporarily, financial problems aparently)...

Seafriends, located Leigh, North Island:

Seafriends home page

This website is huge (over 3600 pages) I went checked out the premises while visiting Ti Pi Reptile Park and they had some very unusual aquariums...
 
I take it you'll be writing a review of Ti Point then? Hint hint
 
this is a quote from the Seafriends home-page:

PRESS RELEASE 16 Nov 2005: Local Government forces Marine Education Centre to close
The world-acclaimed SEAFRIENDS Marine Conservation and Education Centre in Leigh, New Zealand, is forced to close because subdivision is disallowed by the Rodney District Council. Read more . .
Seafriends for sale. June 2006: With deep sadness we are offering the Seafriends property and business for sale. This document gives you insight in Seafriends as a marine conservation and education centre, and the 10ha estate on which it is based. Read more .
Click to expand...

Note the dates, 2005 and 2006. Obviously its still there because you visited it, but I wonder what the story is with it.
 
The guy that runs it is Dr. Floor Anthoni he has stopped his research so he can stay at the centre all the time to keep it afloat...

Read about the aquariums if you can, they are unique...
 
I went to the Kiwi House at Whangarei Museum last month... They have plans to do a big renovation including a walk thru aviary of NZ species...
 
also in Whangarei

There are plans to turn Limestone Island into some sort of wildlife sanctuary .
I am not sure if it will be open to public access .

Also , Queen Victoria gardens in Masterton had an aviary a few years ago
which I believe is still in existance
 
just found out about another collection, Wai Ariki Nature Park in Hanmer (in the South Island).
Waiariki Nature Park :: Welcome
it appears to be a hobby farm type collection but good for the family to visit.
From their site:
We have gone to great lengths to find the nicest, friendliest and most interesting animals for you to enjoy...including

* Deer
* Pigs
* Rabbits
* Chickens and Ducks
* various breeds of sheep
* Llamas and Alpacas
* Our Donkey
* Amazing Scottish highland cattle
* American Bison
* Emu
* Guinea pigs
* several breeds of goat
* contact us for an up-to-date list
Click to expand...
 
ZooYouthBen said:
Have any Nz'ers been to this Franklin Zoo yet, it seems nice from their website.
Click to expand...

Not yet... I shall make enquires using the medium of the internets and then I'll see if I can get a chance to drive out this Sunday...
 
Hi. Just joined Zoochat, so I thought I'd add what I know.

Marineland in Napier is of course now closed to the public.

Mark Vette's Rescue Zoo was purchased about three years ago, and renamed Franklin Zoo. The present owners of Franklin Zoo are zoo professionals. They are continuing to make upgrades to enclosures, and their focus is most definitely on animal welfare. Their keepers have graduated from the Unitec Captive Wild Animal Management Course. The zoo is in the process of joining ARAZPA. It is a lovely place, with a friendly family feel, and I recommend it for a visit.

Also, there is a private zoo called Pouakai in New Plymouth, which has a number of exotics - including lions, bobcats, zebra, meerkats, rt-lemur, macaques, spider monkeys, gibbons, capuchins.
 
I didn't realise Mark Vette's was the same as Franklin Zoo.

And I'd never even heard of Pouakai, but that would explain where some of the missing species in NZ are (macaques etc). Have you been there? I wonder how the two New Plymouth zoos do in competition with each other.

here are some (poor) links to Pouakai:
Pouakai Zoo Park
Taranaki Wiki : Pouakai Zoo which says they have the following animals Lions, Zebra, Ostrich, Macaques, Gibbons, Lemurs, Meerkat, Bobcat, Llama, Tuatara, Emu
 
The New Plymouth zoos have very different feels to one another. Brooklands is council-owned and quite-park like and there is no admission fee, so I expect people might go there regularly - as they would the botanical gardens.

Their animal collections are quite different too - with Brooklands having otters and a red panda as drawcards and Pouakai having the lions. So I don't think there's too much direct competition.
 
The Mark vette resuce zoo and Franklin zoo are in fact the same zoo it just changed hands and is now the Franklin zoo and yes they are a ARAZPA insitution it is a great little zoo perfect of a afternoon out all the staff are really friendly and answer all questions and something i reaaly enjoy is their wild encounter which occurs every day at 2pm which is a walk and talk about the lions, lemurs, otter, capuchin and spider monkeys. and a new thing they have now is a monkeying around encounter at 11am every day which is a walk and talk of all the primates ( 5 species in total)
 
Hi..Please dont forget us.. Pouakai Zoo New Plymouth.
We have collection of primates, a lion pride, Meerkats, Exotic Birds and Reptiles plus many more animals...Thanks
 
don't worry, you're in there too. Its just the original list hasn't been updated with zoos I found out about later, but they're all listed in the thread.
See post 34 above. Do you have a website?
 
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