Entrance Parking at the front of the zoo is effortless, I visited late on Thursday afternoon, and only one other family was in the park at the time. You enter the zoo via the main office staffed by volunteers and pay the $12 adult entry fee, which is incredibly reasonable compared to other zoo's in the country (Yes, the amount of species on display differs obliviously). As you exit the main reception, there is a large map to your left. Aquarium The first building you enter is an aquarium that houses two fish tanks and an anti-poaching display with items like an Asian small-clawed otter pelt and a crocodile head on show. There are no signs that specify what fish are in the two tanks, but to the best of my ability (I'm no fish expert), the first tank contains seven Oscars. The second tank contains a single large Gourami (or goldfish). Feel free to correct me, ill supply the pictures below. General comments are that the building is very small, and if the zoo were busy, it would only be able to host 5-6 people comfortably. Given that the building is small, this also means that the tanks are pretty small, particularly the first tanks, which hosts seven fish. Kea free-flight aviary You enter the free-flight aviary by first entering through doors that have to be opened by pressing a button which is a common feature in most modern free-flight aviaries. You then walk down a tunnel that provides information on the Kea for people to read. As you enter the main aviary, you immediately begin to walk on a shingle track that winds through the enclosure. I immediately spotted two keas perched to my left as I entered and as I made my way through the enclosure spotted another two. It a quite a nice enclosure but nothing compared to Wellington Zoos walk through aviary. They have done an excellent job with the planting in the areas and have planted species that you would see in alpine environments to resemble the Kea's natural home best. When one walks through the enclosure, they think they were walking around Milford sounds (without the water). Native bird aviary and surrounding area There is a walk-through native bird aviary, but there is a sign saying that it is closed. Not sure what species has/ is in there but to the left, as you exit the Kea aviary, there is a small enclosure that houses one rose-ringed parakeet along with a single budgie (looks like a grey winged). As you continue on the trail, there are 2 Tuatara enclosures with a sign saying, "Shhhh! we are sleeping until summer returns". However, I did spot one extremely small Tuatara resting on a log. No information on how many individuals are currently housed at Natureland or any other information for that matter. Besides the Tuatara, an enclosure was meant to hold the NZ falcon, but some more budgies instead inhabited this. No sign of the owls meant to live opposite the Falcon and the hoof stock area listed on the map is instead used for growing fruit and vegetables to cut down on food costs for the zoo. Cotton top and pygmy marmoset Here, three cotton top tamarins share an enclosure with a green iguana. Although they do have access to a larger outdoor enclosure if they prefer, it's a relatively small enclosure. One thing that really concerned me is that live PowerPoints, leads and other electrical stuff is accessible to the primates. The outdoor area for the cotton-top tamarins is large and has a mesh roof. The site is heavily planted and means the primates have access to trees and other vegetation to climb on and best represent their natural behaviours. Besides the cotton top's is a smaller enclosure that houses pygmy marmosets, of which I spotted three, two of them were grooming each other in front of a heater. It was a relatively dull enclosure with little enrichment items for the primates to enjoy. Mixed meercat and Porcupine exhibit This would have to be one of the more excellent enclosures at the zoo. I would say it is better than the enclosure that Wellington Zoo provides for its meerkats. Its planted very generously but still gives people the opportunity to view the animals. The three meerkats share the exhibit with two African porcupines with an area to the far left of the enclosure. As I was there, I was lucky enough to briefly speak to one of the keepers who was in the process of throwing an insect-infested log for them to have a chew on. There and two males from Auckland and one female who came from Wellington called Malika. The plan is to breed with them shortly, so watch this space. Beside is a water dragon and snake-necked turtle enclosure. Capuchin enclosure A very old-style enclosure that reminds me of Hamilton Zoo's primate enclosures. But it still provides the capuchins with a necessary quality of life with plenty of enrichment along with an off-display area and a night den that seemed to be accessible for them during the day. I saw six individuals in the 10 minutes or so that I watched them for. The enclosure could do with a re-landscape, though, and some substrate like mulch on the ground would be nicer than the bare dirt that would turn to mud in heavy rain. They were very interested monkeys, and even though they see people walk past their enclosure and stare at them daily, they were still very interested in who I was. Black and white ruffed lemur exhibit Probably the zoo's star attraction, and they have been provided with the nicest enclosure at the zoo. The lemurs have access to two different sections connected via a mesh tunnel that the primates can walk through. The first enclosure looks relatively new, and you can get right up close to the animals. It's a rather bare dirt floor, though, and some landscaping would have been nice. Also, it would have looked a lot nicer with glass instead of mesh fencing, but I assume the price was a barrier when building the enclosure. The second exhibit is long but very narrow and has rock formations that the primates can jump on and some small vegetation. While I was there, I spotted four individuals. They seemed to spend most of the time hanging around in the tunnel that connects the two exhibits. One thing of concern is the controls for the sliding door that controls the animals being able to access the enclosures is right in front of the path and can be accessed and used by visitors. There did not seem to be any locking device to prevent the shafts from operating. Farmyard enclosure A decent-sized area with a hill in the middle that housed goats, turkey and ducks. As with similar zoo's in NZ, there is an opportunity to feed these animals by purchasing pellets when you enter. Following the path along leads you to a terrarium that hosts a lone blue tongue skink. There is also meant to be a breeding centre for Kaka that I checked out. The enclosures are hidden mainly by unkept vegetation (not sure whether this is on purpose or not), but I did manage to spot one adult bird along with the sounds of what I assumed were Kaka chicks. Next, there is a Kunekune pig enclosure that houses two pigs. I assumed that this enclosure used to be used for something else as there were glass panels surrounding parts of the enclosure. There are also free-roaming Guinea fowl and peacocks that can be spotted in the area. The final enclosure is a paddock that is home to three alpaca. It was what I expected at Natureland. I'm aware of the financial struggles that the zoo and most small zoo's around New Zealand face. They do not receive the sort of funding that our four main zoo's (Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton and Orana) get, which is visible in the condition of some of the enclosures. I think that the exotic species in the collection are the only drawcard that the zoo holds to keep visitors coming. If they were to lose these species, I would be worried for the future of the zoo and the animals under their care. The future for the zoo is potentially looking bright with a master plan that hopes to turn the zoo's fate around that includes a new tamarin/agouti walk through exhibit along with a walk-through ring-tailed lemur exhibit. Also included in the master plan is a second meercat enclosure and a new capuchin exhibit which is well overdue.
The fish in the first tanks are oscars (Astronotus ocellatus) and jaguar cichlids (Parachromis Managuensis) and the second fish should be a midas cichlid and red devil cichlid hybrid (Amphilophus citrinellus x Amphilophus labiatus)
