The scale and beauty of these wildernesses, the power of the elements and the exquisiteness of the wildlife captured, is awe-inspiring. What’s heartbreaking is the reminder that both Poles are under such grave threat from climate change. Another wake-up call for us to do all we can to protect our natural world. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment, Zoo Alive has 4 copies to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number. Entries close Monday 30 April.
The Zoo Series 11 The 11th series of the awarding-winning show The Zoo, all about Auckland Zoo’s animals, keepers and vets, is essential viewing for the whole family. As well as going behind the scenes at the Zoo, this 10-episode series travels to the USA, Australia, deep into the Sumatran jungle of western Indonesia and to New Zealand’s remote Codfish Island – home to the endangered kakapo.
Friends Safari Night walk and barbeque Saturday 21 April
(4.30pm to 10.00pm) The Zoo is putting on a special Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ)-only Safari Night guided walk and barbeque on Saturday 21 April from 4.30pm to 10pm. It’s a great opportunity to experience the Zoo after dark and share a fun evening with other FOTZ members. There are 24 individual places available at the special FOTZ discounted rate of $40.80. The minimum age is five years, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 09 360 4700 today to book your spot.
EE
4 Zoom tours to be won
Ever wanted to hang out with a keeper and help give breakfast to some fair dinkum Aussie wildlife or get up close and personal with a Galapagos tortoise?
Saturday 6 April – Sunday 22 April 9.30am – 4.15pm
Mother’s Day
Sunday 13 May 9.30am – 4.15pm
et
k tic
These April holidays Auckland Zoo is celebrating the release of Dr Suess’ The Lorax, screening in cinemas from 29 March. Come on in with the whole family and do The Lorax Truffula Trail and you’ll get some native New Zealand seeds F to plant at home and a 2-for-1 voucher for the t RE ke E tic kids to see The Lorax at EVENT cinemas!
Auckland Zoo will be celebrating all mums this Mother’s Day – human and animal mums! Show your mum the love by bringing her in for a fabulous day here at the Zoo.
FR
World Environment Day
Zoom and Safari Night discounts
Saturday 30 June – Sunday 15 July 9.30am – 4.15pm
World Environment Day (WED) is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate the incredible natural world around us, and discover more about what we can all do to help look after it. Auckland Zoo will celebrate WED (5 June) throughout Queen’s Birthday weekend. Check F our website in May for WED activity details. t RE ke E tic
tic Keep the kids active during their holiday break by bringing them along to the Zoo. We’ll have exciting July holiday activities throughout the two weeks. Visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz from mid-May to find out about our July activities. F t RE ke E tic
FR
EE
t t kceke ticti
Tuesday 10 April 9.30am – 3.30pm (limited to 10 participants) F
AUTUMN-WINTER 2012 $3.00
Amazing artworks were created as a result, and you can see these in the Kermadec exhibition which is on until 1 July at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum in downtown Auckland. Entry is free for Aucklanders.
FR
RE Workshop is for children aged 12 -14 years. Led by The Zoo’s new one-day Young Photographers E professional photographers Graham Meadows and Claire Vial, who regularly run adult photography courses, it’s a fantastic opportunity for youngsters keen on photography to get to know their camera better and learn and practice basic techniques. Held at the Zoo, it also offers participants the opportunity to get up close to a Zoo animal behind the scenes. Participants need to bring their own camera and lunch.
April School Holidays The Zoo show returns! New kids’ pages
t
e ick
EE
t
Cost: $95 per person (limited to 10 participants). To book: Phone (09) 360 4700 or email zooexperiences@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz F FR REE EE
Zoological Society of Auckland Seminars Thursday 26 April 6.30pm – 8pm
FR
The Zoological Society of Auckland offers great monthly seminars with speakers who present on zoology, naturalEEsciences and conservation-related topics. This month, Robert Hoare from Landcare Research will talk about butterflies and moths around Auckland. No bookings are required and seminars are held at the Zoo’s Grasslands Theatre (behind the Information Centre). Students $5, adult FOTZ members $10.
Further seminars will run in May, June, July and August. For further event details visit www.zoologicalsociety.co.nz or phone (09) 476 5962
Follow us on
t
ke
Workshops and Seminars Young Photographers Workshop
The Lorax
t
July School Holidays
EE
Find more details visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz or phone (09) 360 4700
Thanks to our friends at MOTAT, all FOTZ are now entitled to a 20% discount off the MOTAT standard adult and child admission fee. To receive your discount, simply present your FOTZ pass at the gate.
EE
FR
We are now offering FOTZ members a permanent 15% discount on all our Zoom tours and Safari Nights. From helping keepers scrub down an elephant to getting up close to a red panda or discovering the Zoo and its animals after dark, these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences!
MOTAT discount
FR
t
ke
tic
EE
New Friends benefits
Bring any of your friends who are not FOTZ members along to the Zoo with you and they can receive a 20% discount on their Zoo admission. Just show your FOTZ pass at the cashiers and your friends will receive their discount. This benefit applies to standard adult and/or child Zoo admission only, and runs until 31 December 2012.
EE
EE
et
Bring a friend
FR
FR
EE
k tic
In May 2011, nine New Zealand artists and broadcaster Marcus Lush were invited by the Pew Environment Group to take a voyage on HMNZ Otago to explore the stunning Kermadec region of New Zealand. They voyaged from Auckland to Raul Island and then on to Tonga.
t
ke
tic
FR
Queen’s Birthday Weekend Sat 2 June – Mon 4 June
an awesome artistic journey of the South Pacific
t
ke
tic
Entries close Tuesday 24 April.
Entries close Monday 16 April.
Kermadec
15 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
The Lorax April School Holidays
The official magazine of Auckland Zoo
EE
EE
k
Zoo Alive has two Aussie Walkabout Zoom tours and two Galapagos tortoise Zoom tours to give away, so you can do just that! Each tour is for either two adults or for one adult and one child. The child must be six years or older for the Aussie Walkabout experience and seven years or older for the Galapagos tortoise experience. To enter, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) number and which tour you’d like to win.
FR
FR
et
tic
We also have three additional places (each for two people – either 2 adults, or 1 adult and 1 child) to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, FOTZ number and a contact phone number.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
RE
FR
Thanks to Greenstone TV, producers of The Zoo, we have 2 sets of The Zoo Series 11 to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Thanks to Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, Zoo Alive has 4 copies of Kermadec to give away. To be in to win a copy, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Adult F Event FREE for FOTZ Booking essential Major Event
EE
Primate keepers Amy and Carly travel to Sumatra to work with Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme staff, and help prepare young rescued orangutans for release back to the wild. In other stories, keepers welcome otter cubs, and thousands farewell the Zoo’s beloved matriarch, elephant Kashin.
Kermadec, a stunning new book about the journey, artworks and writings by these artists including Dame Robin White, Gregory O’Brien, John Reynolds, Phil Dadson, Elizabeth Thomson and John Pule, has also been produced.
Night Event Family Event
t
ke
tic
E
May
Using the latest camera technology to film on land, from the air, underwater and below the Arctic ice cap, Frozen Planet follows the lives of extraordinary wildlife including polar bears, Adelie penguins, wolves, orcas and albatross.
Day Event
July
The camera team spent an astounding 2,356 days in the field to make this six-part series, narrated by acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
EE
FR
April
BBC Earth’s Frozen Planet takes you on a breathtaking journey to the frozen worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Friends Of The Zoo Special Offers
April
Frozen Planet The Complete Series
Events
June
p o ns t i t i e m o C
FR
t
ke
tic
For more information about all of these events, visit aucklandzoo.co.nz
The scale and beauty of these wildernesses, the power of the elements and the exquisiteness of the wildlife captured, is awe-inspiring. What’s heartbreaking is the reminder that both Poles are under such grave threat from climate change. Another wake-up call for us to do all we can to protect our natural world. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment, Zoo Alive has 4 copies to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number. Entries close Monday 30 April.
The Zoo Series 11 The 11th series of the awarding-winning show The Zoo, all about Auckland Zoo’s animals, keepers and vets, is essential viewing for the whole family. As well as going behind the scenes at the Zoo, this 10-episode series travels to the USA, Australia, deep into the Sumatran jungle of western Indonesia and to New Zealand’s remote Codfish Island – home to the endangered kakapo.
Friends Safari Night walk and barbeque Saturday 21 April
(4.30pm to 10.00pm) The Zoo is putting on a special Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ)-only Safari Night guided walk and barbeque on Saturday 21 April from 4.30pm to 10pm. It’s a great opportunity to experience the Zoo after dark and share a fun evening with other FOTZ members. There are 24 individual places available at the special FOTZ discounted rate of $40.80. The minimum age is five years, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 09 360 4700 today to book your spot.
EE
4 Zoom tours to be won
Ever wanted to hang out with a keeper and help give breakfast to some fair dinkum Aussie wildlife or get up close and personal with a Galapagos tortoise?
Saturday 6 April – Sunday 22 April 9.30am – 4.15pm
Mother’s Day
Sunday 13 May 9.30am – 4.15pm
et
k tic
These April holidays Auckland Zoo is celebrating the release of Dr Suess’ The Lorax, screening in cinemas from 29 March. Come on in with the whole family and do The Lorax Truffula Trail and you’ll get some native New Zealand seeds F to plant at home and a 2-for-1 voucher for the t RE ke E tic kids to see The Lorax at EVENT cinemas!
Auckland Zoo will be celebrating all mums this Mother’s Day – human and animal mums! Show your mum the love by bringing her in for a fabulous day here at the Zoo.
FR
World Environment Day
Zoom and Safari Night discounts
Saturday 30 June – Sunday 15 July 9.30am – 4.15pm
World Environment Day (WED) is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate the incredible natural world around us, and discover more about what we can all do to help look after it. Auckland Zoo will celebrate WED (5 June) throughout Queen’s Birthday weekend. Check F our website in May for WED activity details. t RE ke E tic
tic Keep the kids active during their holiday break by bringing them along to the Zoo. We’ll have exciting July holiday activities throughout the two weeks. Visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz from mid-May to find out about our July activities. F t RE ke E tic
FR
EE
t t kceke ticti
Tuesday 10 April 9.30am – 3.30pm (limited to 10 participants) F
AUTUMN-WINTER 2012 $3.00
Amazing artworks were created as a result, and you can see these in the Kermadec exhibition which is on until 1 July at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum in downtown Auckland. Entry is free for Aucklanders.
FR
RE Workshop is for children aged 12 -14 years. Led by The Zoo’s new one-day Young Photographers E professional photographers Graham Meadows and Claire Vial, who regularly run adult photography courses, it’s a fantastic opportunity for youngsters keen on photography to get to know their camera better and learn and practice basic techniques. Held at the Zoo, it also offers participants the opportunity to get up close to a Zoo animal behind the scenes. Participants need to bring their own camera and lunch.
April School Holidays The Zoo show returns! New kids’ pages
t
e ick
EE
t
Cost: $95 per person (limited to 10 participants). To book: Phone (09) 360 4700 or email zooexperiences@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz F FR REE EE
Zoological Society of Auckland Seminars Thursday 26 April 6.30pm – 8pm
FR
The Zoological Society of Auckland offers great monthly seminars with speakers who present on zoology, naturalEEsciences and conservation-related topics. This month, Robert Hoare from Landcare Research will talk about butterflies and moths around Auckland. No bookings are required and seminars are held at the Zoo’s Grasslands Theatre (behind the Information Centre). Students $5, adult FOTZ members $10.
Further seminars will run in May, June, July and August. For further event details visit www.zoologicalsociety.co.nz or phone (09) 476 5962
Follow us on
t
ke
Workshops and Seminars Young Photographers Workshop
The Lorax
t
July School Holidays
EE
Find more details visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz or phone (09) 360 4700
Thanks to our friends at MOTAT, all FOTZ are now entitled to a 20% discount off the MOTAT standard adult and child admission fee. To receive your discount, simply present your FOTZ pass at the gate.
EE
FR
We are now offering FOTZ members a permanent 15% discount on all our Zoom tours and Safari Nights. From helping keepers scrub down an elephant to getting up close to a red panda or discovering the Zoo and its animals after dark, these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences!
MOTAT discount
FR
t
ke
tic
EE
New Friends benefits
Bring any of your friends who are not FOTZ members along to the Zoo with you and they can receive a 20% discount on their Zoo admission. Just show your FOTZ pass at the cashiers and your friends will receive their discount. This benefit applies to standard adult and/or child Zoo admission only, and runs until 31 December 2012.
EE
EE
et
Bring a friend
FR
FR
EE
k tic
In May 2011, nine New Zealand artists and broadcaster Marcus Lush were invited by the Pew Environment Group to take a voyage on HMNZ Otago to explore the stunning Kermadec region of New Zealand. They voyaged from Auckland to Raul Island and then on to Tonga.
t
ke
tic
FR
Queen’s Birthday Weekend Sat 2 June – Mon 4 June
an awesome artistic journey of the South Pacific
t
ke
tic
Entries close Tuesday 24 April.
Entries close Monday 16 April.
Kermadec
15 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
The Lorax April School Holidays
The official magazine of Auckland Zoo
EE
EE
k
Zoo Alive has two Aussie Walkabout Zoom tours and two Galapagos tortoise Zoom tours to give away, so you can do just that! Each tour is for either two adults or for one adult and one child. The child must be six years or older for the Aussie Walkabout experience and seven years or older for the Galapagos tortoise experience. To enter, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) number and which tour you’d like to win.
FR
FR
et
tic
We also have three additional places (each for two people – either 2 adults, or 1 adult and 1 child) to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, FOTZ number and a contact phone number.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
RE
FR
Thanks to Greenstone TV, producers of The Zoo, we have 2 sets of The Zoo Series 11 to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Thanks to Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, Zoo Alive has 4 copies of Kermadec to give away. To be in to win a copy, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Adult F Event FREE for FOTZ Booking essential Major Event
EE
Primate keepers Amy and Carly travel to Sumatra to work with Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme staff, and help prepare young rescued orangutans for release back to the wild. In other stories, keepers welcome otter cubs, and thousands farewell the Zoo’s beloved matriarch, elephant Kashin.
Kermadec, a stunning new book about the journey, artworks and writings by these artists including Dame Robin White, Gregory O’Brien, John Reynolds, Phil Dadson, Elizabeth Thomson and John Pule, has also been produced.
Night Event Family Event
t
ke
tic
E
May
Using the latest camera technology to film on land, from the air, underwater and below the Arctic ice cap, Frozen Planet follows the lives of extraordinary wildlife including polar bears, Adelie penguins, wolves, orcas and albatross.
Day Event
July
The camera team spent an astounding 2,356 days in the field to make this six-part series, narrated by acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
EE
FR
April
BBC Earth’s Frozen Planet takes you on a breathtaking journey to the frozen worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Friends Of The Zoo Special Offers
April
Frozen Planet The Complete Series
Events
June
p o ns t i t i e m o C
FR
t
ke
tic
For more information about all of these events, visit aucklandzoo.co.nz
COVER: Female giraffe calf Nakuru with two-year-old female giraffe Kiraka. The Zoo’s youngest giraffes have already established a great bond.
See story page 4. Photograph by Brian Cairns.
Auckland Zoo’s official newsletter Zoo Alive is printed on Sumo Laser paper stock – produced from ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified mixed source pulp, manufactured under the strict ISO 14001 Environmental Management system. It is published tri-annually (Spring, Summer and Autumn/Winter). Contents cannot be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.
Dear
Some of these efforts are currently being captured for Series 12 of The Zoo show, set to screen on TVNZ later this year. Check out pages 6 and 7 for more about the making of the show and the stars and stories you can look forward to seeing!
Friends
The birth of our giraffe calf Nakuru, pictured on this issue’s cover, is just one of many births the Zoo has celebrated this summer. We’re proud to say that most of these births have been New Zealand native animals, and represent species whose populations need boosting to ensure their future. As well as the work our keepers and vet staff do here at the Zoo, we’re increasingly busy helping our conservation partners out in the field. In this issue you can read about some of the work we’re doing, both around New Zealand and overseas.
News
Summer arrivals
Be sure you also take advantage of this issue’s great competitions, special FOTZ offers, and fun activity pages for both toddlers and school-age kids. Warm regards,
EDITOR
ZOO people
Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant) is the 250th kiwi Auckland Zoo has hatched, reared and released to the wild.
EDITOR Jane Healy DESIGN & PRINTING
Congratulations to two-year-old Friend of the Zoo Grace Pereira of Herne Bay, pictured here with mum Jennifer
PMP Maxum is proud to provide sponsorship to Auckland Zoo to assist with the printing and design of this publication. Designer: Rory Birk
Pereira, for being our biggest fan in 2011. As a Flexipass member Grace came in to the Zoo 54 times! As our most frequent visitor, Grace wins a new Adult/Child Flexipass (valued at $150) – a membership that enables any adult to come with a child. Thanks for being such a great Zoo fan Grace and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Address all enquiries to: The Editor, Zoo Alive, Auckland Zoo, Private Bag, Grey Lynn, Auckland Tel: 09-360-3804, Fax: 09-360-3818 jane.healy@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz www.aucklandzoo.co.nz
Lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, heard
Auckland Zoo is a member of the World Association of Zoos & Aquaria, and the Australasian organisation – Zoo Aquarium Association
Auckland had a great zoo and came in for a visit with her husband Don Burton and son Taylor in March just before The Cranberries’ Auckland concert - the first gig of their 2012 world tour. In a mini ‘world tour’ of the Zoo, Dolores and family went behind-the-scenes and met up with our elephant Burma, red panda, giraffe and lions. They especially loved visiting Te Wao Nui and meeting some local heroes including kea whose beauty and cheekiness quickly won them over!
The History Files This December, Auckland Zoo turns 90! As we move closer to celebrating nine decades, we take a look back through the years. 1922 On 17 December, Auckland Zoo is officially opened by Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe.
1923 Jamuna the elephant (pictured), donated by John Court, arrives from Calcutta
Auckland Zoo would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters:
with her mahout. In 1923 visitor numbers reach 37,000. Today annual visitation is over 650,000.
1956 Four young chimpanzees (Janie, Bobbie, Josie and Minnie) arrive from London’s
Regents Park Zoo where they had already been trained to dress up and have tea parties to entertain the crowds. Fortunately, by 1964, with changing attitudes, Auckland Zoo discontinues the tea parties. Still alive today, Janie is now 58 years old, and the Zoo’s oldest animal resident. In this year, Jamuna dies, and thousands of condolence letters pour into Auckland Zoo.
1965 The first giraffe calf to be born in New Zealand is at Auckland Zoo. The male calf is named Peter after Olympic gold medallist Peter Snell.
1992 A first for New Zealand; Auckland Zoo rears kakapo chick Hoki when natural food supplies fail on Maud Island. Hoki is the only kakapo to be successfully raised in captivity. She was released back onto Maud Island, but today lives on Codfish Island.
in 1992. Kakapo Hoki at around 14 weeks old rvation Photo: Department of Conse
3 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
2009 Kakapo Sirocco visits for 10 days in September as part of the Zoo’s Conservation Week celebrations with the Department of Conservation, giving thousands the rare opportunity to see and learn about the world’s only nocturnal parrot.
Female giraffe calf Nakuru, born in January, has established a great bond with fellow female giraffe, two-year-old Kiraka.
While our giraffe calf Nakuru topped the scales and height chart over all other animals born at the Zoo over summer, as an exotic delivery she was very much in the minority among the many New Zealand newcomers. Exotic Birds and Australian Mammal keepers welcomed four healthy red-necked wallaby joeys, and our Carnivore team has confirmed that meerkat mum Mosi has produced baby kittens, due to emerge from their burrow as Zoo Alive goes to print.
A kaka chick, born in late January at four weeks and eight weeks old. Photo: Tanya Shennan
Te Radar, New Zealand’s foremost ‘Opinionist’ says “buy palm oil-free”.
ostrich in Prideland’s giraffe paddock. Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan says she’s partial to chasing ostrich, and describes Nakuru as “very confident and inquisitive”.
But it was within our NZ precinct, Te Wao Nui, that most new life emerged. Twenty-three kiwi chicks hatched and were successfully reared and then released onto Motuora Island as part of the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme. Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant), became the 250th kiwi to be released by the Zoo, which each season receives kiwi eggs from Department of Conservation (DOC) staff in Northland to incubate, hatch and rear. Chicks stay on ‘kiwi creche’ island Motuora until they reach 1kg in weight – large enough to fend off stoats, and are then relocated back to the wild in Northland in intensively trapped areas. The NZ Birds team was especially excited to welcome a kaka chick, which hatched in late January in Te Wao Nui’s The Forest. This chick will be released into DOC’s mainland island Boundary Stream in Hawkes Bay in September. Three bellbirds also hatched in The Forest, and in the Wetlands, scaup and pateke (brown teal). The three pateke are soon to be relocated to Peacock Springs in Christchurch to be paired up with mates, and will then be released to protected sites around the country. A world away from Te Wao Nui, giraffe calf Nakuru (born mid-January) is growing up fast. She’s now fully integrated with her fellow giraffe, as well as zebra and 4 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
Auckland Zoo will soon be home to eight Bolivian squirrel monkeys. Photo: Craig Simcox, Fairfax NZ
CHOOSE palm oil-free this Easter!
Squirrel monkeys coming soon
Delicious chocolate treats and the iconic hot-cross bun are integral to Easter celebrations in New Zealand, when lots of these foods are consumed.
Auckland Zoo is to welcome three male and five female Bolivian squirrel monkeys this month (April).
The group of eight are from a troupe of 30 that arrived at Wellington Zoo from Parc Zoologique du Bois de Coulage in Moselle, France, in February, and range in age from six months to 11 years. Along with Auckland and Wellington zoos, some of the troupe have also been sent to Brooklands Zoo in New Plymouth as part of the Australasian regional breeding programme for this species.
Go for it, we say! But first, hop online and download our Palm Oil Free Easter Goodie Guide and Buy Palm Oil Free wallet card, so you can choose chocolate and buns that are palm oil-free. We know not all hot-cross buns are packaged, but where they are and have ingredient lists, our wallet card (which lists the names for palm oil and its derivatives) can help you. Alternatively, use the recipes on our website and have fun making your own!
Primate team leader Amy Robbins, who has spent time at Wellington Zoo recently getting to know her new charges, describes them as “very mischievous, but lovely”.
Rainforests in Indonesia are being destroyed at the rate of 54 rugby fields an hour to make way for oil palm plantations, and that’s threatening the survival of hundreds of species, including the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Asian rhino and elephant.
Keep an eye out online for updates about when our squirrel monkeys will be on display.
Please join us in choosing palm oil-free. www.aucklandzoo.co.nz.
Kipper the Californian sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
COVER: Female giraffe calf Nakuru with two-year-old female giraffe Kiraka. The Zoo’s youngest giraffes have already established a great bond.
See story page 4. Photograph by Brian Cairns.
Auckland Zoo’s official newsletter Zoo Alive is printed on Sumo Laser paper stock – produced from ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified mixed source pulp, manufactured under the strict ISO 14001 Environmental Management system. It is published tri-annually (Spring, Summer and Autumn/Winter). Contents cannot be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.
Dear
Some of these efforts are currently being captured for Series 12 of The Zoo show, set to screen on TVNZ later this year. Check out pages 6 and 7 for more about the making of the show and the stars and stories you can look forward to seeing!
Friends
The birth of our giraffe calf Nakuru, pictured on this issue’s cover, is just one of many births the Zoo has celebrated this summer. We’re proud to say that most of these births have been New Zealand native animals, and represent species whose populations need boosting to ensure their future. As well as the work our keepers and vet staff do here at the Zoo, we’re increasingly busy helping our conservation partners out in the field. In this issue you can read about some of the work we’re doing, both around New Zealand and overseas.
News
Summer arrivals
Be sure you also take advantage of this issue’s great competitions, special FOTZ offers, and fun activity pages for both toddlers and school-age kids. Warm regards,
EDITOR
ZOO people
Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant) is the 250th kiwi Auckland Zoo has hatched, reared and released to the wild.
EDITOR Jane Healy DESIGN & PRINTING
Congratulations to two-year-old Friend of the Zoo Grace Pereira of Herne Bay, pictured here with mum Jennifer
PMP Maxum is proud to provide sponsorship to Auckland Zoo to assist with the printing and design of this publication. Designer: Rory Birk
Pereira, for being our biggest fan in 2011. As a Flexipass member Grace came in to the Zoo 54 times! As our most frequent visitor, Grace wins a new Adult/Child Flexipass (valued at $150) – a membership that enables any adult to come with a child. Thanks for being such a great Zoo fan Grace and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Address all enquiries to: The Editor, Zoo Alive, Auckland Zoo, Private Bag, Grey Lynn, Auckland Tel: 09-360-3804, Fax: 09-360-3818 jane.healy@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz www.aucklandzoo.co.nz
Lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, heard
Auckland Zoo is a member of the World Association of Zoos & Aquaria, and the Australasian organisation – Zoo Aquarium Association
Auckland had a great zoo and came in for a visit with her husband Don Burton and son Taylor in March just before The Cranberries’ Auckland concert - the first gig of their 2012 world tour. In a mini ‘world tour’ of the Zoo, Dolores and family went behind-the-scenes and met up with our elephant Burma, red panda, giraffe and lions. They especially loved visiting Te Wao Nui and meeting some local heroes including kea whose beauty and cheekiness quickly won them over!
The History Files This December, Auckland Zoo turns 90! As we move closer to celebrating nine decades, we take a look back through the years. 1922 On 17 December, Auckland Zoo is officially opened by Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe.
1923 Jamuna the elephant (pictured), donated by John Court, arrives from Calcutta
Auckland Zoo would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters:
with her mahout. In 1923 visitor numbers reach 37,000. Today annual visitation is over 650,000.
1956 Four young chimpanzees (Janie, Bobbie, Josie and Minnie) arrive from London’s
Regents Park Zoo where they had already been trained to dress up and have tea parties to entertain the crowds. Fortunately, by 1964, with changing attitudes, Auckland Zoo discontinues the tea parties. Still alive today, Janie is now 58 years old, and the Zoo’s oldest animal resident. In this year, Jamuna dies, and thousands of condolence letters pour into Auckland Zoo.
1965 The first giraffe calf to be born in New Zealand is at Auckland Zoo. The male calf is named Peter after Olympic gold medallist Peter Snell.
1992 A first for New Zealand; Auckland Zoo rears kakapo chick Hoki when natural food supplies fail on Maud Island. Hoki is the only kakapo to be successfully raised in captivity. She was released back onto Maud Island, but today lives on Codfish Island.
in 1992. Kakapo Hoki at around 14 weeks old rvation Photo: Department of Conse
3 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
2009 Kakapo Sirocco visits for 10 days in September as part of the Zoo’s Conservation Week celebrations with the Department of Conservation, giving thousands the rare opportunity to see and learn about the world’s only nocturnal parrot.
Female giraffe calf Nakuru, born in January, has established a great bond with fellow female giraffe, two-year-old Kiraka.
While our giraffe calf Nakuru topped the scales and height chart over all other animals born at the Zoo over summer, as an exotic delivery she was very much in the minority among the many New Zealand newcomers. Exotic Birds and Australian Mammal keepers welcomed four healthy red-necked wallaby joeys, and our Carnivore team has confirmed that meerkat mum Mosi has produced baby kittens, due to emerge from their burrow as Zoo Alive goes to print.
A kaka chick, born in late January at four weeks and eight weeks old. Photo: Tanya Shennan
Te Radar, New Zealand’s foremost ‘Opinionist’ says “buy palm oil-free”.
ostrich in Prideland’s giraffe paddock. Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan says she’s partial to chasing ostrich, and describes Nakuru as “very confident and inquisitive”.
But it was within our NZ precinct, Te Wao Nui, that most new life emerged. Twenty-three kiwi chicks hatched and were successfully reared and then released onto Motuora Island as part of the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme. Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant), became the 250th kiwi to be released by the Zoo, which each season receives kiwi eggs from Department of Conservation (DOC) staff in Northland to incubate, hatch and rear. Chicks stay on ‘kiwi creche’ island Motuora until they reach 1kg in weight – large enough to fend off stoats, and are then relocated back to the wild in Northland in intensively trapped areas. The NZ Birds team was especially excited to welcome a kaka chick, which hatched in late January in Te Wao Nui’s The Forest. This chick will be released into DOC’s mainland island Boundary Stream in Hawkes Bay in September. Three bellbirds also hatched in The Forest, and in the Wetlands, scaup and pateke (brown teal). The three pateke are soon to be relocated to Peacock Springs in Christchurch to be paired up with mates, and will then be released to protected sites around the country. A world away from Te Wao Nui, giraffe calf Nakuru (born mid-January) is growing up fast. She’s now fully integrated with her fellow giraffe, as well as zebra and 4 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
Auckland Zoo will soon be home to eight Bolivian squirrel monkeys. Photo: Craig Simcox, Fairfax NZ
CHOOSE palm oil-free this Easter!
Squirrel monkeys coming soon
Delicious chocolate treats and the iconic hot-cross bun are integral to Easter celebrations in New Zealand, when lots of these foods are consumed.
Auckland Zoo is to welcome three male and five female Bolivian squirrel monkeys this month (April).
The group of eight are from a troupe of 30 that arrived at Wellington Zoo from Parc Zoologique du Bois de Coulage in Moselle, France, in February, and range in age from six months to 11 years. Along with Auckland and Wellington zoos, some of the troupe have also been sent to Brooklands Zoo in New Plymouth as part of the Australasian regional breeding programme for this species.
Go for it, we say! But first, hop online and download our Palm Oil Free Easter Goodie Guide and Buy Palm Oil Free wallet card, so you can choose chocolate and buns that are palm oil-free. We know not all hot-cross buns are packaged, but where they are and have ingredient lists, our wallet card (which lists the names for palm oil and its derivatives) can help you. Alternatively, use the recipes on our website and have fun making your own!
Primate team leader Amy Robbins, who has spent time at Wellington Zoo recently getting to know her new charges, describes them as “very mischievous, but lovely”.
Rainforests in Indonesia are being destroyed at the rate of 54 rugby fields an hour to make way for oil palm plantations, and that’s threatening the survival of hundreds of species, including the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Asian rhino and elephant.
Keep an eye out online for updates about when our squirrel monkeys will be on display.
Please join us in choosing palm oil-free. www.aucklandzoo.co.nz.
Kipper the Californian sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
Kiwi ingenuity goes down well in Nepal
In front of the newly reconstructed Community Conservation Resource Centre in Tapeljung, Nepal are (from left): Local carpenter Dabe, Red Panda Network worker Damber, Himali Conservation Forum member Ramesh, and Auckland Zoo’s Dave Campbell.
Dave Campbell (centre) worked closely with Damber (at right) from Red Panda Network and colleagues from the Himali Conservation Forum.
Dave loved the hard manual labour required on this Nepalese project.
Zoo maintenance worker Dave Campbell describes working at an altitude of 2,600m in a forest in Nepal using only hand tools to help rebuild a community conservation resource centre as “a real buzz” and a ”bit of a time warp”. In late February, funded by the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, Dave travelled to the Taplejung district in northeast Nepal to spend 10 days helping Red Panda Network and Himali Conservation Forum staff and a local carpenter to do this job. With no electricity, the tight team of four used only hand tools to completely strip and reconstruct the building’s front, firm up the foundations, and demolish the old kitchen. All the timber had to be carried up steep banks, which for 30-year-old Dave, who has a black belt in Kung Fu, was all in a day’s work! Using a tape measure, and (fortunately) GPS, Dave was also able help the team to survey the surrounding land and draw up plans to replace the kitchen, add on a bathroom and four guest rooms and plan a garden area that will feature edible and medicinal foods. “I found the hard practical manual work a real buzz. It was such a time warp for me with no nail guns or skill saws and all the things that make life so fast and easy here in New Zealand.” says Dave.
A centre for locals and tourists The total rebuild of the Centre, which is located on a trail that has 50,000 tourists pass by it every year on their pilgrimage to the nearby Patevara Temple, is a two-year project. However, Dave says it should be functional enough to use by December. He explains that longer term, if the nearby temple gets electricity, the surrounding villages will also get power, and proper water systems will be able
Dave’s little helper, five-year-old Acros, the son of local villagers Vhim and Radika who hosted Dave during his stay.
As well as this recent practical support, the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund provides ongoing financial support to Red Panda Network, which is working to save red panda in the wild and preserve habitat through education and empowering local communities. Auckland Zoo is also part of an international breeding programme for red panda. To find out more visit www.redpandanetwork.org and www.aucklandzoo.co.nz.
spotted one. After an hour half walk along the access road and down into the bush, there she was, high up in the trees! “I was excited, but what was great was how equally excited all the locals were; they are very passionate about the work they are doing. I got told some pretty sobering statistics, including that there are only an estimated 300 to 400 red panda remaining in Nepal, and that in Taplejung region, probably only between 50 and 80 animals. It really brings it home why keeping this area protected is so important,” says Dave.
to be installed. Currently all water is collected by hand from a well and cooking is by wood fires. The Taplejung area is red panda territory and the Red Panda Network (RPN), which is working with local villagers to save this endangered animal and preserve its habitat, has funded the Community Conservation Resource Centre’s rebuild. The Himali Conservation Forum (HCF), which it works closely with, will manage and run it. The Centre will offer workshops for locals on sustainable living practices, including efficient use of resources and alternative energy, the vital importance of the biodiversity of this forest region, and eco-tourism opportunities. Tourists will pay to stay at the Centre, and longer term there are plans for an eco-trail bush walk to see red panda Dave himself had the rare opportunity of seeing a red panda in the wild. “The RPN forest guardians were out doing regular monitoring and had a mobile phone so were able to call a local house to let those of us at the Centre know they’d
Auckland Zoo is bringing Dr Seuss’ The Lorax to life these April school holidays from Friday, 6 to Sunday, 22 April. Some of the Zoo’s animals depend on trees to live, so kids will be able to travel through the Zoo during the holidays learning how they can speak for the trees (just like the Lorax!) on the Truffula Trail. They’ll search out the specific animals on their Truffula Trail map where they will find a special message and a code letter, which needs to be written on their activity sheet. Once all the letters are found, the message can be cracked. Every kid that comes into the Zoo to do the Truffula Trail will also get a kids 2-for-1 voucher to see The Lorax at any EVENT Cinemas theatres, plus they’ll receive some native New Zealand seeds to be planted at home!
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The Zoo show returns
The Elephant section’s Andrew Coers (left) and Joel Milicich with Burma following a workout session in her pool – captured by underwater filmmaker Steve Hathaway (bottom right) for the upcoming series.
The award-winning television show The Zoo, all about Auckland Zoo’s animals, keepers and vets and the work they do, returns to the small screen later this year for an exciting 12th series. Auckland Zoo has evolved enormously since The Zoo show first screened back in 1999. In the past year alone, there have been huge developments, in particular, the opening of the New Zealand precinct, Te Wao Nui. In this new series,Te Wao Nui’s animals and keepers will feature in stories that range from what’s happening onsite to keeper efforts out in the field - like helping
Photo: Michelle Cole
shore plover on Motutapu Island and caring for marine life affected by the Rena oil spill in Tauranga.
backdrop for the Zoo’s New Zealand native residents,” says the show’s director, Candace McNabb.
With an office on-site, the Greenstone TV crew who produce the show are very much part of the Zoo family over the months they are filming here. Like Zoo staff, they are also passionate about the stories there are to tell, as well as the environments in which they are set.
“What’s also great for us is being able to get behind-thescenes and spend more time with the animals,” explains Candace. “We get to learn so much more about their characters and quirks. And it’s great to be able to share those with our television audience.
“In any one week, we may have stories set in places as diverse as a South American rainforest (The Rainforest), Africa (Pridelands), or the New Zealand Coast. With the new Te Wao Nui precinct we now have a stunning
“Instead of watching three meerkats scamper around and dig holes, now I know it’s Mosie with her two new boyfriends and she might be making a home for some babies!”
Some familiar faces Christine Tintinger
Senior primate keeper Christine Tintinger has been part of the Auckland Zoo family for 32 years, and a regular on The Zoo show since it began in 1999. Christine says the Zoo’s chimpanzee group moving to Hamilton Zoo in 2004, hand-raising siamang gibbon Iwani in 2003, elephant Kashin’s passing and the relocation of orangutans Horst, Indra and Intan to Florida in 2009, have all been huge emotional milestones for her that have been covered by the show. “Sometimes I feel as though time has stood still, but then I realise that an enormous amount has happened and many of us, myself and chimpanzee Janie included, are all that much older, and greyer! “What also strikes me is how much Auckland Zoo has achieved over the years, and how we’ve grown the conservation work we do outside of the Zoo. And it’s fantastic that the public can get to see so much of this through the show,” says Christine. Auckland Zoo’s longest-serving employee, who is lovingly ‘mobbed’ by New Zealand and overseas fans at almost every turn, says her favourite story for The Zoo to date has been travelling to Sumatra in 2006 to work with orangutans in the wild. “It was just incredible seeing orangutans in the wild and working on the 6 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
project – an experience I can still see, feel and smell,” says Christine, who spent time on the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, a project that Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund supports. Series 12 sees Christine feature in a special ‘day in the life’ story with chimpanzee Janie.
Amy Robbins
Primate team leader Amy Robbins has featured on almost every series of The Zoo. She says filming with Greenstone TV at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon in West Africa in 2004 would have to be her all-time favourite story to date. “The place and the animals were absolutely amazing, and it was great for the show to film gorillas, which we’d never shown before,” says Amy, who spent six weeks at the Centre, working mainly with rescued chimpanzees. Amy features in a number of stories in Series 12, including travelling to Wellington Zoo to meet some cheeky new charges – a troupe of eight Bolivian squirrel monkeys destined for Auckland Zoo.
Nat Sullivan
Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan is much-loved by Australian viewers who often approach her when
visiting Auckland Zoo, and there’s been a lot of them this summer! Nat takes it all in her stride, and loves the fact that people get so excited about the animals that feature and the work of the Zoo. “It’s really neat that people are so genuinely interested in what we do, and in individual animals, who they can really get to know well through the show,” says Nat. In this new series, Nat will feature in stories about giraffe Jelani’s move to Australia.
Andrew Coers
Auckland Zoo’s team leader of Elephants/Sea lions, Andrew Coers, has worked at Auckland Zoo for 15 years. Out on his daily walks through the Zoo grounds with elephant Burma, he is frequently approached by members of the public who are fans of the show, and is always happy to chat. This year, Andrew will feature in stories about Burma and also the Zoo’s fur seals, including new young male fur seal Atamai, who was rescued off the Raglan coast late last year, and now lives in Te Wao Nui’s The Coast with our other fur seals and Californian sea lions.
The Zoo Series 12 director Candace McNabb (left) and cameraman Hamish Wilson filming with Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan, who will feature in stories about zebra and giraffe.
Fast Facts
Some new faces Anneke Haworth
As Zoo Alive prepares to go to print, 24-year-old carnivore keeper Anneke Haworth is waiting expectantly for meerkat pups to emerge from their burrow. Mum Mosi has started to come out of their burrow for longer periods – a sign the pups can be left by themselves for longer periods. “Any day now,” promises Anneke! Anneke and our Meerkat family will feature in this upcoming series.
• The Zoo (Series 1) first screened in 1999 on TV One. Series 12 will screen on TV One later this year • The Zoo is produced by Greenstone TV Ltd, and now screens in over 35 countries, including Australia, Ireland, the U.K.,Thailand, Belguim, Israel, USA, Russia and in countries in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, the Carribbean and Scandinavia
Photo: Craig Pritchard
Senior primate keeper Christine Tintinger has an extraordinary bond with 58-year-old chimpanzee Janie, who she has known for 32 years! You can look forward to seeing ‘a day in the life of Janie’ story in the upcoming series.
Underwater filmmaker Steve Hathaway films Auckland Zoo team leader Andrew Coers in an underwater training session with Californian sea lion Kipper that you can catch on The Zoo show later this year.
• When The Zoo show screens in New Zealand and Australia (GEM free-to-air channel) it attracts around 500,000 viewers per screening
Bethany Jackson
Auckland Zoo’s vet-inresidence Bethany Jackson makes her debut on the show this year. Along with leading a three-year research project on health and disease in kakariki on Tiritiri Matangi Island, Bethany is part of the vet team that provides day-to-day health care for our animals.
Richard Gibson
The Zoo’s team leader of Reptiles and Invertebrates Richard Gibson is a newcomer to both Auckland Zoo and The Zoo show. A former curator of Herpetology for the Zoological Society of
London and Chester Zoo, Richard is passionate about reptiles and amphibians. In this new series, you can see Richard and a visiting expert herpetologist from the United States carrying out tests to sex Archey’s frogs – a critically endangered species held here at the Zoo.
Natalie Clark
A zookeeper on the Zoo’s NZ Birds section, 28-yearold Natalie Clark’s four years at Auckland Zoo have all involved working with New Zealand native species, which she loves. The Greenstone TV crew followed Natalie when she was down in Tauranga late last year helping care for marine life affected by the Rena oil spill.
A winner
As well as achieving consistently high viewer ratings, The Zoo show has been a top award winner. The Zoo has won the TV Guide’s ‘Best Reality Documentary Series’ in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2007, it became the most awarded show or personality in the history of the awards. It also won the Qantas Television Awards Best Information Programme in 2004, and has been a finalist in the Qantas Television Awards in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
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Feature Growing Zoo efforts in the wild Auckland Zoo staff have been busy working outside our gates on many different conservation projects in recent months as we step up our commitment to helping conserve wildlife in wild places. The equivalent of two Zoo staff now work full-time with conservation partners on New Zealand field projects. Zoo Alive takes a look at where some of our efforts have been, and also what’s coming up. settle the birds in and monitor their progress following their release. Following a February translocation of 17 birds from Peacock Springs in Christchurch, a further 15 birds were translocated from Pukaha Mt Bruce in March.
Photos: Richard Gibson
Reptiles and Invertebrates Team Leader Richard Gibson recently helped with capturing tuatara for translocation to Motuihe Island. Keepers Tanya Shennan and Lana Laurenson (right) assisted with their release.
Tuatara A group of tuatara were recently translocated from Northland’s Lady Alice Island in the Hen and Chicken group to pest-free Motuihe Island, just a short boat ride from downtown Auckland.
Auckland Zoo keeper Tim Cutajar (bottom right) with DOC staff at ‘Archey’s hut’ in the Whareorino Forest – home to the critically endangered Archey’s frog.
Auckland Zoo’s Richard Gibson spent three days on Lady Alice Island, helping collect the 60 tuatara; work that had to be done at night when the reptiles are more active. The five-strong collecting team led by environmental consultants Tonkin and Taylor, also included representatives from DOC, Victoria University of Wellington and local iwi. The tuatara were flown to Motuihe Island by helicopter accompanied by a kaumatua from Ngati Wai. Zookeepers Lana Laurenson and Tanya Shennan were on Motuihe to assist Motuihe Restoration Trust, iwi and DOC staff with releasing them. An exciting conservation milestone, this is the first time that tuatara have been removed from Lady Alice Island to start a population elsewhere.
population, are helping DOC find out how the very few wild populations are doing. “We work at night from 9pm into the early hours, searching for frogs on our hands and knees along five 2m wide by 10m long transects from the ground up to 2m high. It helps to love frogs,” says Richard, who’ll be back monitoring in the forest later in April. NZ Bird keeper Debs Searchfield (right) helps DOC ranger Hazel Speedy with the banding of a nearly fledged saddleback chick on Motutapu Island.
NZ Bird section team leader Andrew Nelson says he and his team will continue to help monitor the birds, particularly over the breeding season starting in late spring. “It’s a great feeling being able to transfer husbandry skills learned at the Zoo out into the field,” says NZ bird keeper Debs Searchfield, who as well as helping with shore plover also assisted DOC ranger Hazel Speedy with banding of tieke (saddleback). In other efforts for endemic birds, Zoo staff check bait lines in Ark in the Park in the Waitakere ranges – a project the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund supports, and also assist Ark in the Park staff with telemetry tracking of its kokako population.
The population of the New Zealand shore plover in the wild is around 200.
Frogs, lizards and fishes
Shore plover and kokako One of this country’s most critically endangered native birds, the New Zealand shore plover, was released on pest-free Motutapu Island this summer.
Reptiles and Invertebrates Team Leader Richard Gibson and keepers Tim Cutajar, Julie Underwood and Lana Laurenson have all spent time roughing it in the remote Whareorino Forest monitoring Archey’s frog in recent months.
Auckland Zoo’s NZ Bird section staff not only helped build the temporary holding aviaries required for their arrival, but have also played a key role in helping DOC
Just 4cm long, this amazing amphibian is the world’s most evolutionarily distinct frog and is critically endangered. Zoo staff, who care for a captive
Frogs found are captured, and taken back to the field station where they are photographed, weighed, measured and swabbed for disease prevalence studies, before being returned back to where they were found. “Two of the plots are in predator-controlled forest and two are outside of predator control. Frogs are much less common in the latter, so predator control appears to be very important,” explains Richard. This annual monitoring by DOC, with the Zoo’s help, provides valuable information on frog age-class, density, habitat preference and use, site-fidelity, longevity, and behaviour, and any marked changes can provide early warning signs. These are all things that can help conservationists learn more about what these frogs need, where else they might look for them, and how to help protect them. Our Reptiles and Invertebrates team has also been helping DOC to find out which lizard species are present on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands and has assisted with translocating and monitoring some fish species to Motutapu Island. In May, keeper Julie Underwood will be helping survey freshwater fish species on Great Barrier Island.
From the Director Jonathan Wilcken
Zoo skills needed in the wild Dear Friends, We recently celebrated releasing our 250th kiwi chick to the wild as part of our efforts for the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme. This achievement is a great testament to the expertise of Auckland Zoo staff in incubating kiwi eggs and rearing kiwi chicks. And it is because of these skills that we can make this contribution to conserving these iconic birds in the wild. But this is really only the start of the work that we do to help save species in the wild. We assist the Department of Conservation (DOC) by incubating atrisk fairy tern eggs so that they can then be returned to the beach to hatch. We breed tuatara, whio and kaka for release to supplement struggling wild populations
of these threatened species. And our veterinary team is involved in researching wildlife diseases and helping to manage these disease risks. However, our work does not stop at Auckland Zoo’s gates. A growing number of species are in need of hands-on help in the wild. The specialist skills that are critical to caring for animals here at the Zoo, are skills that are proving to be enormously helpful in assisting wildlife that are in real trouble in the wild. These days, Auckland Zoo staff are spending more time working with our conservation partners out in the field, helping to monitor, manage and protect wild populations. At any given time, we have the equivalent of two staff working out in the field. Over the past eight months alone, we have contributed 2,260 hours to field conservation projects.
Through the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, we also provide financial support to other field conservation projects. Funds are raised for the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund every year and sent to support critical conservation projects around the world. This year alone we will distribute over $300,000 to help protect and conserve endangered species in New Zealand and overseas. We do this as part of a global network of zoos mobilising conservation support. Worldwide, zoos spend an estimated $425m each year to fund such conservation programmes. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has forecast that, unless we do something, 30% of the world’s species of wildlife will disappear over the next 50 years. Zoos are playing a critical role in helping prevent this, and Auckland Zoo is proud to be at the forefront of these efforts.
New Caledonian bird disease project Auckland Zoo vet-in-residence Dr Bethany Jackson, vet nurse Chelsea Dylan and bird keepers Natalie Clark and Thomas Knight travel to Noumea in April to help out on a new Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund project. Our Zoo team will work alongside Parc Zoologique et Forestier, helping carry out fundamental research on Beak and Feather Disease (BFDV) and its implications for New Caledonia’s wild populations of endemic parrot species. Dr Bethany Jackson with a kakariki on Tiritiri Matangi Island.
This project has come about through Bethany’s work with University of Canterbury virologist, Dr Arvind Varsani. Dr Varsani is working on this virus globally, and has set up the New Caledonia project with Almudena Lorenzo, director of the Parc Zoologique et Forestier. Bethany is now a year into leading a three-year research project investigating the presence of BFDV in kakariki on Tiritiri Matangi Island, and what the implications are for their conservation management. Bethany and a team of Zoo staff are out on Tiritiri Matangi this month (April) working with conservation partners catching up these
parrots and taking samples for further testing. “Working together is a great opportunity for all of us to share knowledge and skills about this disease. Given the impacts seen from this disease in the endangered Mauritius Echo Parakeet, and how little is known about the virus in the wild, this is a project of high conservation importance. And it’s going to be invaluable in enabling us to develop relationships with our Pacific neighbours to establish a regional approach to the surveillance and management of BFDV,” says Bethany. As well as sampling, the trip will focus on providing training and support to different organisations in New Caledonia to build in-country capacity. Bird keepers Natalie and Thomas will be responsible for organising and managing samples, data collection and entry, and also catching up birds (mist netting) and bird handling. “I’m very excited at the prospect of working with a range of species I’ve never worked with before, further developing my field skills and learning about the conservation projects in Noumea,” says Natalie.
NZ sea lion reseach NZ Bird keepers Thomas Knight and Natalie Clark will assist vet-in-residence Dr Bethany Jackson with sample collection, mist-netting and handling of birds in Noumea.
A wild deplanche’s lorikeet that was rescued by a resident of Noumea, is infected by Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD).
Auckland Zoo keeper Joel Milicich heads to Invercargill in May to assist a team of marine mammal scientists to tag New Zealand sea lions – one of the world’s rarest sea lion species. The Zoo’s Conservation Fund has provided funding for two of the tags and is funding Joel’s trip. Joel, who works with the Zoo’s New Zealand fur seals and Californian sea lions, is passionate about sea lion conservation, and has been working closely with Department of Conservation scientist Dr Louise Chilvers. This research is to understand more about the movements of New Zealand sea lions around southern New Zealand.
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ZOOAlive 9
This is Janie C is for Chimpanzee shoulder
head
She is the oldest animal at Auckland Zoo. Janie is 58 years old. Can you count to 58? Chimpanzees walk on their hands and their feet. Can you walk like a chimpanzee? Does Janie have a tail? No she doesn’t! Chimpanzees are apes. Apes do not have tails, but monkeys do. Chimpanzees live in the jungle. Too many jungle trees are being cut down so that people can build houses with them. What do you think might happen to chimpanzees if their jungles get cut down?
hand knee toes If you know it, sing the song ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’
This is one of Janie’s fingers. She has fingernails just like you.
5 1
2 3
4
How many fingers can you see here? Janie has 5 fingers on her hand too.
Kids care for coasts New Zealand sea lions … love eating squid. Sadly too many die when they get caught in the nets of squid boats which catch fish where the sea lions live. There are less than 10,000 New Zealand sea lions in the whole world and they only live on the coast of Otago in the South Island and on islands south of Stewart Island. They are one of the rarest sea lion species. Males are much bigger than females. Females have one pup every 1-2 years. They are mammals and feed their babies milk.
Can you find the other favourite foods of New Zealand sea lions hidden on this page? (There are 5 to find)
What’s wet and wiggly and says how do you do 16 times?
Did you know?
Two octopus shaking hands.
It takes 10 to 20 years for a plastic bag to break down. Plastic in the ocean kills animals. Plastic bags have been found inside the stomachs of dead sea birds, turtles and mammals.
You can…
Crossword
Choose paper over plastic wrap for your sandwiches.
Help your family buy fish using the best fish guide wwwbestfishguide.org.nz. Protect You can keep your dog on a lead when walking on the beach and help nesting birds stay safe. Get involved Join a beach clean-up group – or start your own!
1.
You c an do something
2.
3.
Use these clues to fill in the squares
(This page will help you!) Across Down Across Down Across
A marine mammal with whiskers A favourite food of New Zealand sea lions The name for a group of whales A good thing to leave out of your lunchbox Something to choose from when you buy fish Crossword answers Across: 1. sea lion, 2. pod, 3. Best fish guide Down: 1. squid, 2. plastic
Come down and see the New Zealand fur seals and Californian sea lions at The Coast in Te Wao Nui next time you are at Auckland Zoo!
1. 1 2. 2. 3.
Tiaki
“to look after, conserve, protect, save”
Conservationists join Zoo in helping wildlife Fast Facts • The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund (AZCF) was established by Auckland Zoo staff in 2000 to directly support conservation efforts in the wild Professor Dianne Brunton
Sean Goddard
The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund (AZCF), dedicated to supporting the conservation of wildlife in the wild, has recently welcomed three high-profile conservationists onto its governing committee. They are Professor Dianne Brunton - director of Massey University’s Ecology and Conservation Group (and AZCF Committee Chair); Sean Goddard, Department of Conservation Auckland Conservator; and Tamsin Orr-Walker, co-founder and Chair of the Kea Conservation Trust. “Auckland Zoo staff, passionate about wildlife, established the AZCF back in 2000. An enormous amount of work by staff has gone into growing and developing this Fund, which has raised over $1.1million to help endangered animals in the wild within New Zealand and all around the world - from tuatara and frogs to tiger, rhino and orangutan,: says Auckland Zoo director, Jonathan Wilcken. “Dianne, Sean and Tamsin all bring with them a wealth of experience in the conservation field, so it’s
Tasmin Orr-Walker
fantastic to have them joining us on the Committee to help grow our efforts even further.” Jonathan says the grass-roots efforts of staff from all across the Zoo are still very much to the fore in 2012. A Conservation Fund Working Group (CFWG) made up of 12 Zoo staff is responsible for researching and recommending to the Committee the key projects that the Fund should support. In the 2012/2013 financial year, the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund will distribute $300,000 to New Zealand and overseas projects as well as having staff working with conservation partners in the field, primarily on New Zealand projects. “Auckland Zoo believes the best place to conserve wildlife is in the wild, and doing this in our own backyard is particularly important. Half the money we raise in the coming year will go directly to helping New Zealand native species in the wild,” says Jonathan.
Zoo people on our Conservation Fund Committee Kevin Buley
As Life Sciences Manager, Kevin is responsible for animal and plant departments at Auckland Zoo. Kevin joined the Zoo in April 2010. Previously, he was Head of Zoo Programmes at Chester Zoo in the UK and prior to this headed up the Herpetology Department at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
• Practical support: Staff contribute specialist skills to projects and are also able to develop new skills that help the Zoo. Since July 2011, staff have already contributed 2,259.5 hours helping projects in the field! • Our financial support has grown over the years. Last year, approximately $200,000 was distributed to vital conservation projects around the world. This year, we aim to grow this contribution to $300,000. • Funds are raised from fundraising events and initiatives, proceeds from conservation product purchases, visitor admissions, donations and sponsorship • Collectively, zoos worldwide spend an estimated $425m per year on conservation actions in the wild
Carly Day
Peter Fraser
A former vet nurse, Peter is the Zoo’s Field primate keeper Carly has Conservation Programmes worked at the Zoo for the Coordinator (formerly past six years on the Exotic Conservation Officer), and Birds and Primate sections. Chair of the Conservation Fund Passionate about primates, Working Group (CFWG). A Carly has travelled to former lecturer and programme Sumatra to work with coordinator for Unitec New orangutan conservation Zealand’s Certificate in Captive projects, supported by the Conservation Fund, and is Chair Wild Animal Management, Peter joined the Zoo in 2001 as a of the Zoo’s Palm Oil Committee, which is working to help primate keeper, then as Conservation Officer in 2005. Peter is the Zoo become palm oil-free. also co-founder of the Kea Conservation Trust.
Lana Laurenson
An Auckland Zoo staff member for eight years, Lana is a senior keeper on the Reptiles and Invertebrates section, and passionate about amphibians and arachnids (spiders!). Lana has worked with exotic birds, large mammals, primates and domestic animals, and has also had roles as acting registrar and acting team leader for both former NZ Fauna and Exotic Birds/Reptiles sections.
12 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
• Half the funds we raise go to help conservation projects here in New Zealand, and the other half to supporting overseas projects - in Sumatra, Sir Lanka, Africa, South America, Nepal and the Pacific Islands
Nat Sullivan
Nat has worked at Auckland Zoo for 10 years, mostly in our African section, Pridelands, where she is team leader. Nat’s passion for conservation has seen her set up a strong partnership between Auckland Zoo and the Asian Rhino Project. In 2008 she travelled to Indonesia in search of the most endangered mammal on earth, the Javan rhino. “I didn’t find any, but I was quite excited about spotting day-old faeces!”
COVER: Female giraffe calf Nakuru with two-year-old female giraffe Kiraka. The Zoo’s youngest giraffes have already established a great bond.
See story page 4. Photograph by Brian Cairns.
Auckland Zoo’s official newsletter Zoo Alive is printed on Sumo Laser paper stock – produced from ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified mixed source pulp, manufactured under the strict ISO 14001 Environmental Management system. It is published tri-annually (Spring, Summer and Autumn/Winter). Contents cannot be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.
Dear
Some of these efforts are currently being captured for Series 12 of The Zoo show, set to screen on TVNZ later this year. Check out pages 6 and 7 for more about the making of the show and the stars and stories you can look forward to seeing!
Friends
The birth of our giraffe calf Nakuru, pictured on this issue’s cover, is just one of many births the Zoo has celebrated this summer. We’re proud to say that most of these births have been New Zealand native animals, and represent species whose populations need boosting to ensure their future. As well as the work our keepers and vet staff do here at the Zoo, we’re increasingly busy helping our conservation partners out in the field. In this issue you can read about some of the work we’re doing, both around New Zealand and overseas.
News
Summer arrivals
Be sure you also take advantage of this issue’s great competitions, special FOTZ offers, and fun activity pages for both toddlers and school-age kids. Warm regards,
EDITOR
ZOO people
Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant) is the 250th kiwi Auckland Zoo has hatched, reared and released to the wild.
EDITOR Jane Healy DESIGN & PRINTING
Congratulations to two-year-old Friend of the Zoo Grace Pereira of Herne Bay, pictured here with mum Jennifer
PMP Maxum is proud to provide sponsorship to Auckland Zoo to assist with the printing and design of this publication. Designer: Rory Birk
Pereira, for being our biggest fan in 2011. As a Flexipass member Grace came in to the Zoo 54 times! As our most frequent visitor, Grace wins a new Adult/Child Flexipass (valued at $150) – a membership that enables any adult to come with a child. Thanks for being such a great Zoo fan Grace and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Address all enquiries to: The Editor, Zoo Alive, Auckland Zoo, Private Bag, Grey Lynn, Auckland Tel: 09-360-3804, Fax: 09-360-3818 jane.healy@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz www.aucklandzoo.co.nz
Lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, heard
Auckland Zoo is a member of the World Association of Zoos & Aquaria, and the Australasian organisation – Zoo Aquarium Association
Auckland had a great zoo and came in for a visit with her husband Don Burton and son Taylor in March just before The Cranberries’ Auckland concert - the first gig of their 2012 world tour. In a mini ‘world tour’ of the Zoo, Dolores and family went behind-the-scenes and met up with our elephant Burma, red panda, giraffe and lions. They especially loved visiting Te Wao Nui and meeting some local heroes including kea whose beauty and cheekiness quickly won them over!
The History Files This December, Auckland Zoo turns 90! As we move closer to celebrating nine decades, we take a look back through the years. 1922 On 17 December, Auckland Zoo is officially opened by Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe.
1923 Jamuna the elephant (pictured), donated by John Court, arrives from Calcutta
Auckland Zoo would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters:
with her mahout. In 1923 visitor numbers reach 37,000. Today annual visitation is over 650,000.
1956 Four young chimpanzees (Janie, Bobbie, Josie and Minnie) arrive from London’s
Regents Park Zoo where they had already been trained to dress up and have tea parties to entertain the crowds. Fortunately, by 1964, with changing attitudes, Auckland Zoo discontinues the tea parties. Still alive today, Janie is now 58 years old, and the Zoo’s oldest animal resident. In this year, Jamuna dies, and thousands of condolence letters pour into Auckland Zoo.
1965 The first giraffe calf to be born in New Zealand is at Auckland Zoo. The male calf is named Peter after Olympic gold medallist Peter Snell.
1992 A first for New Zealand; Auckland Zoo rears kakapo chick Hoki when natural food supplies fail on Maud Island. Hoki is the only kakapo to be successfully raised in captivity. She was released back onto Maud Island, but today lives on Codfish Island.
in 1992. Kakapo Hoki at around 14 weeks old rvation Photo: Department of Conse
3 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
2009 Kakapo Sirocco visits for 10 days in September as part of the Zoo’s Conservation Week celebrations with the Department of Conservation, giving thousands the rare opportunity to see and learn about the world’s only nocturnal parrot.
Female giraffe calf Nakuru, born in January, has established a great bond with fellow female giraffe, two-year-old Kiraka.
While our giraffe calf Nakuru topped the scales and height chart over all other animals born at the Zoo over summer, as an exotic delivery she was very much in the minority among the many New Zealand newcomers. Exotic Birds and Australian Mammal keepers welcomed four healthy red-necked wallaby joeys, and our Carnivore team has confirmed that meerkat mum Mosi has produced baby kittens, due to emerge from their burrow as Zoo Alive goes to print.
A kaka chick, born in late January at four weeks and eight weeks old. Photo: Tanya Shennan
Te Radar, New Zealand’s foremost ‘Opinionist’ says “buy palm oil-free”.
ostrich in Prideland’s giraffe paddock. Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan says she’s partial to chasing ostrich, and describes Nakuru as “very confident and inquisitive”.
But it was within our NZ precinct, Te Wao Nui, that most new life emerged. Twenty-three kiwi chicks hatched and were successfully reared and then released onto Motuora Island as part of the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme. Chick Manahau (Maori for triumphant), became the 250th kiwi to be released by the Zoo, which each season receives kiwi eggs from Department of Conservation (DOC) staff in Northland to incubate, hatch and rear. Chicks stay on ‘kiwi creche’ island Motuora until they reach 1kg in weight – large enough to fend off stoats, and are then relocated back to the wild in Northland in intensively trapped areas. The NZ Birds team was especially excited to welcome a kaka chick, which hatched in late January in Te Wao Nui’s The Forest. This chick will be released into DOC’s mainland island Boundary Stream in Hawkes Bay in September. Three bellbirds also hatched in The Forest, and in the Wetlands, scaup and pateke (brown teal). The three pateke are soon to be relocated to Peacock Springs in Christchurch to be paired up with mates, and will then be released to protected sites around the country. A world away from Te Wao Nui, giraffe calf Nakuru (born mid-January) is growing up fast. She’s now fully integrated with her fellow giraffe, as well as zebra and 4 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
Auckland Zoo will soon be home to eight Bolivian squirrel monkeys. Photo: Craig Simcox, Fairfax NZ
CHOOSE palm oil-free this Easter!
Squirrel monkeys coming soon
Delicious chocolate treats and the iconic hot-cross bun are integral to Easter celebrations in New Zealand, when lots of these foods are consumed.
Auckland Zoo is to welcome three male and five female Bolivian squirrel monkeys this month (April).
The group of eight are from a troupe of 30 that arrived at Wellington Zoo from Parc Zoologique du Bois de Coulage in Moselle, France, in February, and range in age from six months to 11 years. Along with Auckland and Wellington zoos, some of the troupe have also been sent to Brooklands Zoo in New Plymouth as part of the Australasian regional breeding programme for this species.
Go for it, we say! But first, hop online and download our Palm Oil Free Easter Goodie Guide and Buy Palm Oil Free wallet card, so you can choose chocolate and buns that are palm oil-free. We know not all hot-cross buns are packaged, but where they are and have ingredient lists, our wallet card (which lists the names for palm oil and its derivatives) can help you. Alternatively, use the recipes on our website and have fun making your own!
Primate team leader Amy Robbins, who has spent time at Wellington Zoo recently getting to know her new charges, describes them as “very mischievous, but lovely”.
Rainforests in Indonesia are being destroyed at the rate of 54 rugby fields an hour to make way for oil palm plantations, and that’s threatening the survival of hundreds of species, including the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Asian rhino and elephant.
Keep an eye out online for updates about when our squirrel monkeys will be on display.
Please join us in choosing palm oil-free. www.aucklandzoo.co.nz.
Kipper the Californian sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
The scale and beauty of these wildernesses, the power of the elements and the exquisiteness of the wildlife captured, is awe-inspiring. What’s heartbreaking is the reminder that both Poles are under such grave threat from climate change. Another wake-up call for us to do all we can to protect our natural world. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment, Zoo Alive has 4 copies to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number. Entries close Monday 30 April.
The Zoo Series 11 The 11th series of the awarding-winning show The Zoo, all about Auckland Zoo’s animals, keepers and vets, is essential viewing for the whole family. As well as going behind the scenes at the Zoo, this 10-episode series travels to the USA, Australia, deep into the Sumatran jungle of western Indonesia and to New Zealand’s remote Codfish Island – home to the endangered kakapo.
Friends Safari Night walk and barbeque Saturday 21 April
(4.30pm to 10.00pm) The Zoo is putting on a special Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ)-only Safari Night guided walk and barbeque on Saturday 21 April from 4.30pm to 10pm. It’s a great opportunity to experience the Zoo after dark and share a fun evening with other FOTZ members. There are 24 individual places available at the special FOTZ discounted rate of $40.80. The minimum age is five years, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 09 360 4700 today to book your spot.
EE
4 Zoom tours to be won
Ever wanted to hang out with a keeper and help give breakfast to some fair dinkum Aussie wildlife or get up close and personal with a Galapagos tortoise?
Saturday 6 April – Sunday 22 April 9.30am – 4.15pm
Mother’s Day
Sunday 13 May 9.30am – 4.15pm
et
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These April holidays Auckland Zoo is celebrating the release of Dr Suess’ The Lorax, screening in cinemas from 29 March. Come on in with the whole family and do The Lorax Truffula Trail and you’ll get some native New Zealand seeds F to plant at home and a 2-for-1 voucher for the t RE ke E tic kids to see The Lorax at EVENT cinemas!
Auckland Zoo will be celebrating all mums this Mother’s Day – human and animal mums! Show your mum the love by bringing her in for a fabulous day here at the Zoo.
FR
World Environment Day
Zoom and Safari Night discounts
Saturday 30 June – Sunday 15 July 9.30am – 4.15pm
World Environment Day (WED) is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate the incredible natural world around us, and discover more about what we can all do to help look after it. Auckland Zoo will celebrate WED (5 June) throughout Queen’s Birthday weekend. Check F our website in May for WED activity details. t RE ke E tic
tic Keep the kids active during their holiday break by bringing them along to the Zoo. We’ll have exciting July holiday activities throughout the two weeks. Visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz from mid-May to find out about our July activities. F t RE ke E tic
FR
EE
t t kceke ticti
Tuesday 10 April 9.30am – 3.30pm (limited to 10 participants) F
AUTUMN-WINTER 2012 $3.00
Amazing artworks were created as a result, and you can see these in the Kermadec exhibition which is on until 1 July at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum in downtown Auckland. Entry is free for Aucklanders.
FR
RE Workshop is for children aged 12 -14 years. Led by The Zoo’s new one-day Young Photographers E professional photographers Graham Meadows and Claire Vial, who regularly run adult photography courses, it’s a fantastic opportunity for youngsters keen on photography to get to know their camera better and learn and practice basic techniques. Held at the Zoo, it also offers participants the opportunity to get up close to a Zoo animal behind the scenes. Participants need to bring their own camera and lunch.
April School Holidays The Zoo show returns! New kids’ pages
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Cost: $95 per person (limited to 10 participants). To book: Phone (09) 360 4700 or email zooexperiences@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz F FR REE EE
Zoological Society of Auckland Seminars Thursday 26 April 6.30pm – 8pm
FR
The Zoological Society of Auckland offers great monthly seminars with speakers who present on zoology, naturalEEsciences and conservation-related topics. This month, Robert Hoare from Landcare Research will talk about butterflies and moths around Auckland. No bookings are required and seminars are held at the Zoo’s Grasslands Theatre (behind the Information Centre). Students $5, adult FOTZ members $10.
Further seminars will run in May, June, July and August. For further event details visit www.zoologicalsociety.co.nz or phone (09) 476 5962
Follow us on
t
ke
Workshops and Seminars Young Photographers Workshop
The Lorax
t
July School Holidays
EE
Find more details visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz or phone (09) 360 4700
Thanks to our friends at MOTAT, all FOTZ are now entitled to a 20% discount off the MOTAT standard adult and child admission fee. To receive your discount, simply present your FOTZ pass at the gate.
EE
FR
We are now offering FOTZ members a permanent 15% discount on all our Zoom tours and Safari Nights. From helping keepers scrub down an elephant to getting up close to a red panda or discovering the Zoo and its animals after dark, these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences!
MOTAT discount
FR
t
ke
tic
EE
New Friends benefits
Bring any of your friends who are not FOTZ members along to the Zoo with you and they can receive a 20% discount on their Zoo admission. Just show your FOTZ pass at the cashiers and your friends will receive their discount. This benefit applies to standard adult and/or child Zoo admission only, and runs until 31 December 2012.
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EE
et
Bring a friend
FR
FR
EE
k tic
In May 2011, nine New Zealand artists and broadcaster Marcus Lush were invited by the Pew Environment Group to take a voyage on HMNZ Otago to explore the stunning Kermadec region of New Zealand. They voyaged from Auckland to Raul Island and then on to Tonga.
t
ke
tic
FR
Queen’s Birthday Weekend Sat 2 June – Mon 4 June
an awesome artistic journey of the South Pacific
t
ke
tic
Entries close Tuesday 24 April.
Entries close Monday 16 April.
Kermadec
15 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
The Lorax April School Holidays
The official magazine of Auckland Zoo
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EE
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Zoo Alive has two Aussie Walkabout Zoom tours and two Galapagos tortoise Zoom tours to give away, so you can do just that! Each tour is for either two adults or for one adult and one child. The child must be six years or older for the Aussie Walkabout experience and seven years or older for the Galapagos tortoise experience. To enter, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) number and which tour you’d like to win.
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tic
We also have three additional places (each for two people – either 2 adults, or 1 adult and 1 child) to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, FOTZ number and a contact phone number.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
RE
FR
Thanks to Greenstone TV, producers of The Zoo, we have 2 sets of The Zoo Series 11 to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Thanks to Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, Zoo Alive has 4 copies of Kermadec to give away. To be in to win a copy, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Adult F Event FREE for FOTZ Booking essential Major Event
EE
Primate keepers Amy and Carly travel to Sumatra to work with Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme staff, and help prepare young rescued orangutans for release back to the wild. In other stories, keepers welcome otter cubs, and thousands farewell the Zoo’s beloved matriarch, elephant Kashin.
Kermadec, a stunning new book about the journey, artworks and writings by these artists including Dame Robin White, Gregory O’Brien, John Reynolds, Phil Dadson, Elizabeth Thomson and John Pule, has also been produced.
Night Event Family Event
t
ke
tic
E
May
Using the latest camera technology to film on land, from the air, underwater and below the Arctic ice cap, Frozen Planet follows the lives of extraordinary wildlife including polar bears, Adelie penguins, wolves, orcas and albatross.
Day Event
July
The camera team spent an astounding 2,356 days in the field to make this six-part series, narrated by acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
EE
FR
April
BBC Earth’s Frozen Planet takes you on a breathtaking journey to the frozen worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Friends Of The Zoo Special Offers
April
Frozen Planet The Complete Series
Events
June
p o ns t i t i e m o C
FR
t
ke
tic
For more information about all of these events, visit aucklandzoo.co.nz
The scale and beauty of these wildernesses, the power of the elements and the exquisiteness of the wildlife captured, is awe-inspiring. What’s heartbreaking is the reminder that both Poles are under such grave threat from climate change. Another wake-up call for us to do all we can to protect our natural world. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment, Zoo Alive has 4 copies to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number. Entries close Monday 30 April.
The Zoo Series 11 The 11th series of the awarding-winning show The Zoo, all about Auckland Zoo’s animals, keepers and vets, is essential viewing for the whole family. As well as going behind the scenes at the Zoo, this 10-episode series travels to the USA, Australia, deep into the Sumatran jungle of western Indonesia and to New Zealand’s remote Codfish Island – home to the endangered kakapo.
Friends Safari Night walk and barbeque Saturday 21 April
(4.30pm to 10.00pm) The Zoo is putting on a special Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ)-only Safari Night guided walk and barbeque on Saturday 21 April from 4.30pm to 10pm. It’s a great opportunity to experience the Zoo after dark and share a fun evening with other FOTZ members. There are 24 individual places available at the special FOTZ discounted rate of $40.80. The minimum age is five years, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 09 360 4700 today to book your spot.
EE
4 Zoom tours to be won
Ever wanted to hang out with a keeper and help give breakfast to some fair dinkum Aussie wildlife or get up close and personal with a Galapagos tortoise?
Saturday 6 April – Sunday 22 April 9.30am – 4.15pm
Mother’s Day
Sunday 13 May 9.30am – 4.15pm
et
k tic
These April holidays Auckland Zoo is celebrating the release of Dr Suess’ The Lorax, screening in cinemas from 29 March. Come on in with the whole family and do The Lorax Truffula Trail and you’ll get some native New Zealand seeds F to plant at home and a 2-for-1 voucher for the t RE ke E tic kids to see The Lorax at EVENT cinemas!
Auckland Zoo will be celebrating all mums this Mother’s Day – human and animal mums! Show your mum the love by bringing her in for a fabulous day here at the Zoo.
FR
World Environment Day
Zoom and Safari Night discounts
Saturday 30 June – Sunday 15 July 9.30am – 4.15pm
World Environment Day (WED) is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate the incredible natural world around us, and discover more about what we can all do to help look after it. Auckland Zoo will celebrate WED (5 June) throughout Queen’s Birthday weekend. Check F our website in May for WED activity details. t RE ke E tic
tic Keep the kids active during their holiday break by bringing them along to the Zoo. We’ll have exciting July holiday activities throughout the two weeks. Visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz from mid-May to find out about our July activities. F t RE ke E tic
FR
EE
t t kceke ticti
Tuesday 10 April 9.30am – 3.30pm (limited to 10 participants) F
AUTUMN-WINTER 2012 $3.00
Amazing artworks were created as a result, and you can see these in the Kermadec exhibition which is on until 1 July at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum in downtown Auckland. Entry is free for Aucklanders.
FR
RE Workshop is for children aged 12 -14 years. Led by The Zoo’s new one-day Young Photographers E professional photographers Graham Meadows and Claire Vial, who regularly run adult photography courses, it’s a fantastic opportunity for youngsters keen on photography to get to know their camera better and learn and practice basic techniques. Held at the Zoo, it also offers participants the opportunity to get up close to a Zoo animal behind the scenes. Participants need to bring their own camera and lunch.
April School Holidays The Zoo show returns! New kids’ pages
t
e ick
EE
t
Cost: $95 per person (limited to 10 participants). To book: Phone (09) 360 4700 or email zooexperiences@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz F FR REE EE
Zoological Society of Auckland Seminars Thursday 26 April 6.30pm – 8pm
FR
The Zoological Society of Auckland offers great monthly seminars with speakers who present on zoology, naturalEEsciences and conservation-related topics. This month, Robert Hoare from Landcare Research will talk about butterflies and moths around Auckland. No bookings are required and seminars are held at the Zoo’s Grasslands Theatre (behind the Information Centre). Students $5, adult FOTZ members $10.
Further seminars will run in May, June, July and August. For further event details visit www.zoologicalsociety.co.nz or phone (09) 476 5962
Follow us on
t
ke
Workshops and Seminars Young Photographers Workshop
The Lorax
t
July School Holidays
EE
Find more details visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz or phone (09) 360 4700
Thanks to our friends at MOTAT, all FOTZ are now entitled to a 20% discount off the MOTAT standard adult and child admission fee. To receive your discount, simply present your FOTZ pass at the gate.
EE
FR
We are now offering FOTZ members a permanent 15% discount on all our Zoom tours and Safari Nights. From helping keepers scrub down an elephant to getting up close to a red panda or discovering the Zoo and its animals after dark, these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences!
MOTAT discount
FR
t
ke
tic
EE
New Friends benefits
Bring any of your friends who are not FOTZ members along to the Zoo with you and they can receive a 20% discount on their Zoo admission. Just show your FOTZ pass at the cashiers and your friends will receive their discount. This benefit applies to standard adult and/or child Zoo admission only, and runs until 31 December 2012.
EE
EE
et
Bring a friend
FR
FR
EE
k tic
In May 2011, nine New Zealand artists and broadcaster Marcus Lush were invited by the Pew Environment Group to take a voyage on HMNZ Otago to explore the stunning Kermadec region of New Zealand. They voyaged from Auckland to Raul Island and then on to Tonga.
t
ke
tic
FR
Queen’s Birthday Weekend Sat 2 June – Mon 4 June
an awesome artistic journey of the South Pacific
t
ke
tic
Entries close Tuesday 24 April.
Entries close Monday 16 April.
Kermadec
15 ZOOAlive Autumn/Winter 2012
The Lorax April School Holidays
The official magazine of Auckland Zoo
EE
EE
k
Zoo Alive has two Aussie Walkabout Zoom tours and two Galapagos tortoise Zoom tours to give away, so you can do just that! Each tour is for either two adults or for one adult and one child. The child must be six years or older for the Aussie Walkabout experience and seven years or older for the Galapagos tortoise experience. To enter, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) number and which tour you’d like to win.
FR
FR
et
tic
We also have three additional places (each for two people – either 2 adults, or 1 adult and 1 child) to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Include your name, FOTZ number and a contact phone number.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
Entries close Monday 30 April.
RE
FR
Thanks to Greenstone TV, producers of The Zoo, we have 2 sets of The Zoo Series 11 to give away. To be in to win, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Thanks to Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum, Zoo Alive has 4 copies of Kermadec to give away. To be in to win a copy, email zoofriends@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Please include your name, FOTZ number and contact phone number.
Adult F Event FREE for FOTZ Booking essential Major Event
EE
Primate keepers Amy and Carly travel to Sumatra to work with Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme staff, and help prepare young rescued orangutans for release back to the wild. In other stories, keepers welcome otter cubs, and thousands farewell the Zoo’s beloved matriarch, elephant Kashin.
Kermadec, a stunning new book about the journey, artworks and writings by these artists including Dame Robin White, Gregory O’Brien, John Reynolds, Phil Dadson, Elizabeth Thomson and John Pule, has also been produced.
Night Event Family Event
t
ke
tic
E
May
Using the latest camera technology to film on land, from the air, underwater and below the Arctic ice cap, Frozen Planet follows the lives of extraordinary wildlife including polar bears, Adelie penguins, wolves, orcas and albatross.
Day Event
July
The camera team spent an astounding 2,356 days in the field to make this six-part series, narrated by acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
EE
FR
April
BBC Earth’s Frozen Planet takes you on a breathtaking journey to the frozen worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Friends Of The Zoo Special Offers
April
Frozen Planet The Complete Series
Events
June
p o ns t i t i e m o C
FR
t
ke
tic
For more information about all of these events, visit aucklandzoo.co.nz