July 6: Zealandia

Today I caught the shuttle and made my way to Zealandia, a conservation park located in New Zealand. Their aim is to reintroduce once native species back into New Zealand. By creating this park, they have been successful so far. Their entire vision is to restore the land as far as possible to the original environment. This could take roughly 500 years. Because of habitat loss and different pests, the species of New Zealand are still being threatened. 

It’s a 225 hectare ecosanctuary and surrounded by a fence designed for the Karori Sanctuary Trust to keep out predators. Because of the isolation of New Zealand, many of the plant and animal species evolved and lived without any land mammals. So they are extremely vulnerable to all the new predators introduced by humans.  The fence keeps out all the predators that would injure the species inside. The top of the fence has a ridge or a “top hat” to prevent animals such as opossum from climbing over. The fence is 2.2 meters high to prevent cats from jumping in while the tiny gap size of mesh keeps small animals such as weasels out. Also, the fence has a skirt at the bottom to keep burrowing animals such as rabbits from getting into the area. Although this fence takes all the precautions against predators, it is still possible for them to get inside.

Throughout the park, there were different signs and areas for different species. The signs also educate the public on the animal’s conservation status and how the park is working on helping it. Everything from birds to lizards were seen in this park. I was able to spend a whole day here without paying for additional tours. The park also does night tours; thus gaining more public appreciation for the animals.

One of my favorite areas of the park was the “Shag Lookout.” Shags are aquatic birds with long bills and up to four species of shags were sitting in this lake. They leave the park after sunrise to feed in Wellington harbor and return at sunset.

My favorite bird I saw in Zealandia was the South Island Takahe! It’s one of the world’s rarest birds and can only be found in New Zealand.   They were thought to be extinct until an existing population was found in 1948. Although they cannot use their wings for flying, they are extremely colorful and beautiful to see.  In the 1970’s, the bird almost faced extinction again. The population was declining rapidly and could become extinct without ongoing conservation effort. Then the Takahe Recovery Program was developed by the Department of Conservation and they are working to increase numbers while securing habitats.

During my time in Zealandia, I talked with one of the interns and she showed me around. She explained her future goals and how she wanted to work with conserving biodiversity. She gave me more insight into the different species and helped to complete my experience!