Zoo Alive Summer 2011 / 2012

ZOO Alive

The official magazine of Auckland Zoo

SUMMER 2011/12 // $3.00

Meet Santa on his Zoo stopover!

Keepers help oil-affected wildlife Zoo babies

COVER: Female little penguin Moki, one of 11 little penguins living in Te Wao Nui’s The Coast.

our bird keepers have been busy helping clean and care for those animals successfully rescued. The Zoo’s expertise has been greatly appreciated, and we’ll be continuing to help out throughout the summer.

In celebration of the recent opening of our New Zealand precinct, Te Wao Nui, this edition of Zoo Alive comes to you with the special gift of a 2012 New Zealand wildlife calendar.

We hope you enjoy getting to know these stunning iconic and lesser-known creatures of Aotearoa. And remember, these and many other New Zealand native species can be discovered right here at the Zoo – so be sure to take advantage of your membership and visit anytime. We’re only closed on Christmas Day.

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.

EDITOR Jane Healy

Helping some special New Zealand native species in trouble has been a priority for Zoo staff in recent months. Tragically, the Rena oil spill has affected many wildlife – especially the little penguin and New Zealand dotterel. As you can read about in this issue,

With Christmas fast approaching, we hope you’ll act quickly on news that Santa Claus is about to arrive at the Zoo as part of his New Zealand stopover! The back page has details on his visit and special opportunities for Friends.

From all of the Zoo team, a very big thanks for your ongoing support as a Friend of the Zoo. We wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Warm regards, EDITOR

ZOO Friends

PHOTOGRAPHY Graham Meadows & Claire Vial DESIGN & PRINTING

PMP Maxum is proud to provide sponsorship to Auckland Zoo to assist with the printing and design of this publication. Designer: Rory Birk 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

Auckland Zoo is a member of the World Association of Zoos & Aquaria, and the Australasian organisation – Zoo Aquarium Association

Truus and Jacob Groen of Henderson recently celebrated 21 years as Friends of the Zoo. Dutch by birth, the couple spent 13 years in South Africa and have kept their memories alive by creating a safari room at home. Jacob worked for the Zoo and in the 1980s built the amphitheatre for the giant pandas. On retiring, he and Truus became Friends, visiting the Zoo at least twice a month with their grandchildren – 11 in total. Te Wao Nui has become a strong contender for favourite precinct but Jacob’s love of giraffes keeps him loyal to Pridelands.

Auckland Zoo would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters:

New membership benefit From 1 December 2011 to 31 March 2012, if you bring your friends who aren’t FOTZ members along to the Zoo with you, they will get 20 per cent off their Zoo admission.

Simply show your FOTZ pass at the cashiers and your friends will receive their discount. This new membership benefit applies to standard adult and/or child Zoo admission prices only. It can’t be used with student, senior and family passes, or in conjunction with any other offer.

Behind the scenes at Te Wao Nui Five-year-old Louie Joe Scragg and his mum Tracey won the competition in the last issue of Zoo Alive for a behindthe-scenes at Te Wao Nui. “How do you get to do this every day?” was what he wanted to know from keeper Tanya Shennan who helped him feed fish (head first, please) to a flock of little penguins. “Hard work” was the answer, but Louie Joe felt like a star as he hung out with the penguins in The Coast in front of other Zoo visitors. The tuataras and the wekas are also new best friends and Louie Joe will no doubt be dropping by to say hello on his weekly trips to the Zoo with mum and grandma.

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News

Zookeeper Laurel Sandy helping to wash a little penguin

Zookeepers weigh in with Rena clean up While the country watched anxiously, zookeepers packed their bags and were on site at Mt Maunganui within a week of the Rena grounding.

“Being endangered, their care is vitally important so it’s been fantastic to have the Zoo’s specialist expertise here on site.” All the dotterels have survived and were released in late November.

In all, 22 keepers have been part of the wildlife rescue operation, headed by Massey University’s Oiled Wildlife Response Unit (OWRU). At the peak, almost 400 live birds were being held at the facility – the majority little penguins. Numbers were bolstered by the 60 dotterels who were unharmed but captured as a preventative measure.

The Zoo has experience with its own dotterels and made the exhausting twice-daily work of catching, weighing and feeding all these shorebirds more efficient.

“Dotterels get easily stressed,” says keeper Debra Searchfield. “They were initially held in large crates about the size of two desks pushed together and the birds were literally bouncing off the walls. We had to move and speak very quietly.” Their temporary homes were made more familiar with driftwood, seaweed and shells. This ‘furniture’ wasn’t only cosmetic.

“Dotterels need different substrates to walk on,” says keeper Natalie Clark. “Otherwise, they’re prone to dermatitis on their feet, called ‘bumblefoot’.”

Massey’s Wildlife facility leader Dr Brett Gartrell says Zoo staff assistance with husbandry of the most vulnerable species affected has been great.

to Rukiya and Zabulu are due parents for the third time

Being able to transfer captive wildlife handling and husbandry skills to the Rena situation has been the Zoo’s biggest contribution to saving birds’ lives, says Craig Pritchard, manager of the NZCCM. Responding to this major environmental disaster and working alongside an international oiled bird rescue team and other national experts has also generated significant learning and networking opportunities.

fast facts

Debra Searchfield checking a dotterel

Carefully holding and force-feeding oiled penguins was another key task, which the team learned from experience was necessary to bolster the birds’ energy levels before the stressful process of being washed with detergent and rinsed off.

• 22 Auckland Zoo keepers have gone to Tauranga to help • They’ve collectively contributed around 740 hours • Oiled birds need to be washed in water that’s warmed to 40°C • It takes approximately 15 minutes to clean each little penguin

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Zoo babies!

Summer’s the time to watch out for new young ones appearing at the Zoo. Over the past 15 years, 242 kiwi eggs and chicks have been brought to the Zoo through BNZ’s Operation Nest Egg. The chicks are raised here before being moved to a predator-proof ‘kiwi creche’ in preparation for release back into the wild. This multi-stage journey increases their chances of survival to adulthood from five per cent to 65 per cent.

When any of our tuatara lay eggs, a reverse process happens. The eggs travel from here to Wellington’s Victoria University to hatch and then come back to the Zoo to be reared for release onto predator-free islands.

There haven’t been any eggs so far this season in Te Wao Nui’s The Islands, but a handful of last season’s hatched tuatara are waiting to be released.

From even further afield, female giraffe Rukiya is pregnant and is due in February. All going well, this will be her third surviving calf, and you should be able to see the pair out and about from around late March or April.

And closer to the ground, there are new joeys in Aussie Walkabout.

One of the kiwi chicks hatched at the Zoo

Find out more There’s always lots going on at the Zoo, so if you want to be in the know: Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/aucklandzoo Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/AKLZOONZ We update our news through these channels daily.

Summer 11/12

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events

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14 to 18 December (9.30am to 5.30pm)

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We know that many of you have been asking about it, so we’re pleased to announce our Christmas at the Zoo celebration for 2011.

FR FR EE EE one evening event, we are having Instead of having Christmas activities during the day, and stretching the FR celebrations over five days.

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E letters and There will be a 12 Days of Christmas puzzle trail where families travel around the Zoo to find the crack the code, special Christmas-themed animal encounters, the chance to say hello to some zookeepers, and to get your Christmas family photo from Quikpix at Critter Cottages.

Santa will also make an appearance during a special interactive show in Grasslands theatre at 10.30am, 11.30am and 1.30pm daily.

There’s no first in, first served this year, instead it’s all about sharing Christmas with as many of our Friends FR of the Zoo as possible in a time that’s convenient for you.

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It’s free for a FOTZ family to get a puzzle trail map and family photo, and you can get another map and family photo for just $2. If you’re coming along with friends who aren’t FOTZ members, they can purchase a puzzle trail map and family photo for $5.

Visit www.aucklandzoo.co.nz for more information.

Looking for that special gift for Christmas?

Get behind-the-scenes!

Zoom tours are your exclusive opportunity to get up close to and find out about animals you’ve always dreamed about - an experience of a lifetime!

From $75 (minimum age 7 years)

We’ve got something for all the family!

Adopt an animal!

Adopt an animal today and make a valuable contribution to help us conserve threatened and endangered native and exotic species.

From $50

Come in and visit our WildZone gift shop for heaps of gift ideas from soft toys through to T-shirts with proceeds going to support Auckland Zoo and the Conservation Fund.

NEW designer eco-bags!

Our new calico bags are a great gift idea that helps spread the word about reducing palm oil consumption.

At least one in every 10 supermarket products contain palm oil, 85 per cent of which comes from Indonesia or Malaysia where deforestation is continuing rapidly for palm oil plantations. By 2022, the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant and Asian rhino could all be extinct in the wild.

Give the gift of FOTZ!

We know that you love your FOTZ membership, so why not give it to your loved ones this Christmas?

With unlimited daytime entry to the Zoo, you can all organise to visit the Zoo together, and they will also get access to personalised membership passes and special offers.

Packages start from $65

The calico bags are designed by artist Greg Straight and 90 per cent of the profits from sales are going to Auckland Zoo’s Conservation Fund, which supports endangered animals in the wild.

“Our ultimate goal is to be palm oil-free,” says Zoo director Jonathan Wilcken. “We would love all New Zealanders to join us on this journey.”

Bread is a good place to start, since we eat a lot of it. You can download our Palm Oil Free Bread Guide, Shopping Guide, and wallet card from www.aucklandzoo.co.nz to help identify palm oil products or pick up the wallet card at the Zoo’s Information Centre on your next visit.