Education and Advocacy in Conservation – What's the measure?

Te Wao Nui’s home for kea a win for
both birds and visitors
Michelle Whybrow, New Zealand Birds and Mammals, Auckland Zoo
In September 2011, Auckland
Zoo opened Te Wao Nui, a $16m
New Zealand precinct, which
takes up one-fifth of the Zoo’s 17
ha footprint and offers visitors a
unique experience of this country’s
native animals, plants and culture.
The new development is home to
around 60 different New Zealand
native species and encompasses
six distinct ecological habitats –
The Coast (Takutai), The Islands
(Moutere Rahui), The Wetlands
(Nga Repo), The Night (Te Po), The
Forest (Te Wao Nui a Tane), and
The High Country (Whenua Waotu).
Our four male kea share a 520m 2
by 9 metre high aviary with weka
within The High Country zone,
which replicates the South Island’s
isolated high country environment
with schist rock, river stone,
tussock grasses and a tramper’s
hut. It is also home to blue duck
(whio), kakariki, Otago skink and
rough gecko.
A prominent feature of the kea
enclosure is an eye-catching
waterfall, which delivers up to 40
litres of water per second. The
surrounding area is a themed
rock wall that doubles as a partial
retaining wall, stabilising a steep cut
in the existing ground on the side of
the hill. This provides the maximum
range of topography within the
aviary, allowing great range of
movement for both the kea and
weka. The rock wall has been
constructed from shotcrete and
natural rock and features a number
of in-built planters and various
carved paths created for trickles of
water to cascade down the rock
face. The waterfall recycles the
22
water through the aviary and helps
keep the water oxygenated. Special
areas have also been created in the
stream to allow all the birds easy
access to bathe, while allowing
the visitors opportunity to enjoy
observing these situations.
Bordering the side of the visitor
path opposite the rock face is a
wall of basalt schist stone, typical
of old South Island huts that might
shelter a DOC ranger, tramper
or farmer while working in this
isolated environment. From this
vantage point, the stream and pool
can be viewed as well as a flat area
for keeper encounters. A variety
of substrates and planting have
been provided within the aviary
to encourage both the kea and
weka to naturally forage while also
allowing keepers a greater range
of options to provide behavioural
enrichment within the aviary.
The mesh used in this enclosure
differs from that used in the other
Te Wao Nui aviaries, thanks to
the weaponry that the kea wield.
Despite manufacturer’s claims
that the initial mesh choice was