This privately-owned zoo in Timaru on NZ's South Island came up on the red panda thread (Khosuva Leaves Auckland Zoo [Auckland Zoo]) so I did some digging and came up with a small amount of information. The first hurdle was not being able to remember the name of the zoo, so I emailed the good folk at the South Canterbury Museum in Timaru to see if they could help, and Tony Rippin not only told me that it was called the Hadlow Game Park but also sent me three scanned newspaper articles about the zoo's closure in 1986 -- which was fortunate because googling "Hadlow Game Park" resulted in pretty much nothing! *Later edits to this account include further information posted within the thread, and also a new article (2019) which can be read here: https://www.vttourism.co.nz/visit/our-stories/hadlow-game-park-1972-1986 The zoo, described in one of the newspaper articles as "Timaru's only tourist attraction", was opened by Bryan and Jocelyn Bassett-Smith on their deer farm on 60 acres of land in 22 January 1973 (or perhaps December 1973 - I'm not sure which date is correct; the 2019 article I found dates the opening to 1972). They had begun breeding Himalayan Tahr and Red-necked Wallabies for live export, which attracted the attention of locals who wanted to visit to see the animals. Amongst the first inhabitants when the zoo opened were American bison (from Auckland Zoo) and Bonnet Macaques (from Wellington Zoo), as well as ostriches, emus, and various deer species. Llamas were obtained which later kick-started the llama farming industry in NZ. There were also llama-guanaco hybrids here. Additional species were Geoffroy's spider monkeys, green monkeys, chamois, aoudads (Barbary sheep), and a camel. A pair of jaguar cubs was obtained from Auckland Zoo which went on to produce three cubs. A lion cub was also there for a short period apparently. Near the end of the zoo's life a pair of Chinese red pandas (styani) were imported directly from China (the male in 1984 and the female in 1985, both captive-bred at Chengdu); these were the only red pandas in NZ at the time. The zoo grew to 100 acres as the number of animals increased. When he decided in 1985 to close the zoo down, due to the amount of his time it was taking to run it, Bryan gave the local council the option of buying the animals to set up their own version of it in Centennial Park, an option they eventually declined probably largely because there simply wasn't the population and tourist base in the small town to support the facility. The success of the Bassett-Smith's deer farm was actually subsidising the zoo, rather than the zoo being self-sufficient, and there were literally no other attractions in the town to act as support (by way of bringing tourists to the town). Figures given by the council showed it would cost $347,000 to establish the grounds in Centennial Park, $218,000 to build a manager's house and facilities, and $129,000 to purchase the animals from Bassett-Smith. The projected income for the first year would be just $80,000. The Bassett-Smiths closed the zoo for good at Easter 1986. After closure the 15 llamas went to Levin for research into fibre production; the seven bison went to a farmer in Queenstown; and emus, Arapawa Island goats and sheep, and feral pigs went to a private organisation in the Taranaki. Two jaguars and six monkeys had not been found homes as of the last newspaper article (although "there has been interest in the six monkeys from as far afield as Japan and Australia") - from CITES data the jaguars appear to have been exported to China in 1987. The two red pandas also hadn't then been homed but I know they went to Auckland Zoo where the male lived until 1991 and the female until 1993. Some time afterwards the Bassett-Smiths moved to a different property in South Canterbury where they farmed llamas and wapiti (a 2004 article I found online said they had a stock of 700 llamas), and then later returned to the North Island (Bryan originally being from the Bay Of Plenty) where he set up the company Wildenz specialising in possum meat. Archived photo here showing visitors at the bison paddock: http://hockensnapshop.ac.nz/assets.php/2687/28719
A little bit more information passed on to me from a former staff member: The monkeys at the Game Park were green monkeys, spider monkeys and bonnet macaques. As well as the animals already mentioned they also had a lion cub there for a while, and aoudads (barbary sheep), chamois, tahr and a camel.
nope, the jaguars were something I asked specifically about. I *2017 EDIT: on the CITES Trade Database there is a record of two live jaguars being exported from New Zealand to China in 1987, which were probably the two at the Hadlow Game Park.
