4 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Auckland Zoo Karen Phelps Zoo has increasingly important role Auckland’s Zoo’s role as a modern zoo has never been more important, says Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley. Photo: Adrian Malloch 2/31 Victoria St, Onehunga • PO Box 13-914 Onehunga P (09) 636 6385 M (027) 472 0473 E greg@citysiteworks.co.nz Proud to Support Auckland Zoological Park Tandem Construction Limited provides quality construction services for the Auckland region. Project Management • Remedials • Commercial • Industrial Zoo enclosures/structures • Decks & Fences Phone: Paul Turner 0274 306 564, Reece Macfarlane 0274 981 691 180 Nile Road, Forrest Hill, Auckland Proud to support the Auckland Zoological Park Proudly supporting Auckland Zoo’s sustainability journey. Carbon Reporting Software Energy Efficiency Consultancy NABERSNZ & Green Star Ratings Integrate sustainability into your business performance. sales@esphq.com | www.esphq.com | 0800 222 377 With climate change, escalating biodiversity loss and increasing urbanisation and disconnection from nature, Auckland’s Zoo’s role as a modern zoo has never been more important, says Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley. “Wildlife around the world is in desperate trouble with the 2022 Living Planet Index revealing an average decline of 69% in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes since 1970. Good zoos around the world will need to play a critical role in helping to arrest this devastating decline,” he says. Since opening 100 years ago as a mainly treeless menagerie, over the past 10 decades Tāmaki Makaurau’s award-winning zoo has metamorphosed, both physically and philosophically, to become the not-for-profit conservation science organisation it is today. At its heart is its mission ‘to bring people together to build a future for wildlife actioned through its commitment to enhancing the community’s wellbeing and lifelong connection to nature, to strengthening its relationship with Te Ao Māori, excellence in animal care and welfare, science research and training, and to actively conserving wildlife in the wild. Its conservation mahi sees its highly skilled staff breeding threatened endemic species (from birds like kiwi to rare skinks and insects) for release to the wild and working out in the field throughout Aotearoa, and more recently, in the South Pacific. In addition, through its Conservation Fund (established in 2001) it supports other conservation efforts locally and around the globe and has to date contributed over $4.3 million to more than 50 short- and long-term conservation projects. “In New Zealand, despite the best efforts of the Department of Conservation (DOC) and numerous community groups, we are still in a space where many species are hanging on by a thread,” says Kevin. “Most of our threatened species would not survive without human intervention, and our staff can assist with things like pest control, establishing on-going protective areas, hand-raising young, and medical care. Here at the Zoo, our vet hospital, the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) also plays a key role in treating sick and injured animals from the wild – from species such as the critically endangered kākāpō to marine mammals like fur seals. “Something that our visitors may not be aware of, is that every time they visit, money goes towards funding our Wild Work - the many thousands of hours we contribute each year to conservation activities in the wild, as well as to our conservation efforts on site. A great recent example is the kapitia skink, whose West Coast habitat was threatened by Cyclone Fehi in 2018. DOC moved 50 of them to Auckland Zoo, where we successfully bred them, almost doubling their numbers. DOC has since established the predator-free Kapitia Scientific Reserve near Hokitika and in April the zoo was able to translocate the final cohort of 21 zoo-bred skinks into the reserve to help grow the population and progress the conservation of this critically endangered reptile.” Auckland City councillors first established Auckland Zoo on its current site in Auckland’s Western Springs in 1922, and since then locals and people from around the world have made more than 35 million visits. As the zoo celebrates its 100th year Kevin says that it is thanks to the on-going support and trust of parent body Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and the wider Auckland Council whanau that the zoo can continue to realise its mission. Auckland Zoo is celebrating the milestone with an exhibition ‘100 Years: Celebrating a century of wild life at Auckland Zoo’, which is running until 17 July, and a recently released book called ‘Auckland Zoo – 100 Years, 100 Stories’ with all profits going to support the conservation mahi of the zoo. “We’re immensely grateful to the many millions of Kiwis and generations of New Zealanders that have connected with us, supported us and have been an integral part of our journey over our lifetime,” says Kevin. “We look forward to continuing our journey as we work together to build a more sustainable future for people and for wildlife.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=