Western News: July 29, 2021

WESTERN NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday July 29 2021 7
Willowbank a constantly moving feast
Nick Ackroyd has been
looking after keas and
other native species
at Willowbank for the
past 12 years. He talks
to reporter Fiona Ellis
LOKI, BLOFELD, Moriarty
– these are just some of the
names of Willowbank Wildlife
Reserve’s 15 keas.
While the birds may not have
the villainous personalities of
their namesakes, their mischievousness
makes them popular
animals with native species
keeper Nick Ackroyd.
“Probably my favourite, that I
look after every day, is the group
of kea that we have here at Willowbank,”
the St Albans resident
said.
“They . . . are a bit crazy, so
that’s great fun.”
In spite of working in the role
for 12 years, the birds had never
managed to snatch any items
from him, but had been known
to pilfer pompoms, cash and
even credit cards from unwary
visitors.
Kea were as intelligent as great
apes and could solve puzzles that
stumped chimpanzees, he said.
His aim was not to domesticate
animals, but rather to keep
them as wild as possible.
“I think people assume there’s
a lot of cuddling of animals and
patting of things and playing
with stuff. When you’re a zookeeper,
you’re kind of doing the
opposite thing.
“I don’t want them to be playing
with me, I want them to be
going and socialising with the
other animals.”
Not interacting with other
animals could also make them
direct their aggression towards
humans, he said.
This was the case with a
paradise shelduck who had been
hand raised.
“He doesn’t like us and tries to
chase us away whenever we go
into his enclosure.”
Other animals were also in his
charge, from birds such as takahe,
kaka, and whio, to tuatara
and more threatening species.
“We also have a ferret and a
pig and a possum so that people
can see those animals that are
present in New Zealand as well,
and they’re the ones that are
causing issues for our native
animals.”
Conservation efforts were an
important part of Willowbank’s
role, and it was rewarding for
him to play his part in working
towards the Department of Conservation’s
Predator Free 2050
plan, he said.
Although he was concerned
about the future of New Zealand’s
wildlife, there were also
bright points to focus on.
Takahe were doing well and
their numbers increasing, he
said.
Willowbank received two new
takehe from Te Anau earlier
this month as part of a recovery
programme by DOC and Fulton
Hogan.
“Those birds are really
important, they’re genetically
quite unique and we’re hoping
to breed some young from them
this year.”
Signs they would hit it off
come breeding season were
promising, as the pair were
“hanging out” rather than fighting,
he said.
The programme aimed to
breed and release takahe, as Willowbank
had done with other
birds, such as the kaka in Abel
Tasman National Park.
It was always exciting to work
with DOC to do releases, Ackroyd
said.
People’s interest in Willowbank
and learning about native
wildlife was also encouraging,
from strangers to his own children.
“I’ve got two kids who have
both come through here heaps of
times and they love it too.”
However, his favourite aspect
SKILFUL:
Moriarty
looking for
something
to get his
beak into.
of the job was working with likeminded
people.
“We all love working with
animals and want to really make
a difference in that conservation/
native animal area.”
This made up for the less appealing
aspects of the job, such
as working through wicked early
morning frosts, chopping up
chicken to feed the ferret.
People would be surprised at
how much of his role involved
preparing food for the animals
and cleaning their dishes, he
said.
“There are lots more cleaning
and tidying jobs than you might
expect.”
As a child, he would not have
FEATHERED FRIENDS:
Willowbank Wildlife
Reserve native species
keeper Nick Ackroyd is
careful not to have any
potentially pinchable items
on him as he drops in on
his favourite charges, the
keas.
PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN
expected to find himself in this
job, in spite of his interest in
animals, he said.
“My zoo keeping career started
a little bit sideways. I trained to
be a teacher and I did a zooology
degree, but I didn’t really want to
work as a teacher.”
Instead, he took on a job tour
guiding at Kelly Tarlton’s Sea
Life Aquarium, which proved
to be a foot in the door of an
animal keeping career.
He was pleased to work mostly
with birds now.
“Mammals are a bit smelly and
difficult, whereas birds are lovely.
“It’s like a constantly moving
feast, Willowbank. There’s
always something new here.”