Wildlife Foxton Trust

A new wildlife centre is in the early planning stages in Foxton, a very small coastal town in the lower North Island. I'm not sure this area has the population to support such a venture, although if its underpinned by a cafe/resturant it could work, and the area does get visitors from the two large centres in the region. Will be interesting to see how this develops.

Full story here: Foxton wildlife centre on agenda for trust | Stuff.co.nz

 

I was able to visit Wildlife Foxton Trust today. Until recently, the facility could only be visited via a guided tour. The guided tour is now optional, but there is still an entrance fee. The aim of the facility has changed since its initial conception, with the current goal being to educate visitors about the less-popular native animals that are found in NZ. As such, there are no native birds and no Tuatara, and there probably never will be. For non-NZ readers, the Bar-tailed Godwit is featured on the Trust's logo because that species can be seen in the wild at the nearby Manawatū Estuary.

The native animals that are held at Wildlife Foxton Trust are lizards, freshwater fish, and invertebrates. They also hold some exotic species; the ones that I saw were four common species of pet lizards, and a pair of Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. For a small additional fee, visitors are also allowed to hold the pet lizards, which I did not do. Visitors can also request for a Trust worker to hold lizards (both native and exotic) for photography, which is free, and which I did request.

The list of animals that I personally saw is as follows:


BIRD

-Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo: 2

REPTILES

-Eastern Water Dragon: 1
-Central Bearded Dragon: 2
-Leopard Gecko: 2
-Eastern blue-tongued Skink: 2, both outdoors.
-Rough Green Gecko (Rudis Gecko) (Naultinus rudis): 1
-Northland Green Gecko (Naultinus grayii): 2; one indoors and one outdoors.
-Auckland Green Gecko (yellow factor/yellow morph) (Naultinus elegans): 1
-Wellington Green Gecko (Naultinus punctatus): 1 baby, indoors.
-Forest Gecko (labelled as, "Forest Gecko (General)") (Mokopirirakau granulatus): 1

FISH

-Inanga (Galaxias maculatus): 6
-Species signed only as, "Whitebait": At least 6

INVERTEBRATES

-Freshwater Crayfish (Paranephrops planifrons): 2
-New Zealand Mud Snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum): At least several hundred in a very large tank.
-Unidentified larger species of freshwater snail: 1 in the same tank as the mud snails.


The secretive and/or nocturnal nature of many of the animals that are held at Wildlife Foxton Trust means that it was to be expected that there were multiple enclosures that were labelled as being occupied, but within which I personally saw nothing. The labels on these enclosures were as follows:


-Blue-Tongue Skink (indoors)
-Northland Green Gecko (on a third enclosure)
-Wellington Green Gecko (outdoors)
-Duvaucel's Gecko (large enclosure, outdoors)
-Male Duvaucel's Gecko (small enclosure, indoors)
-Baby Duvaucel's Gecko
-Baby Forest Gecko
-Southern North Island Forest Gecko (on 3 enclosures)
-Canterbury Gecko (is nocturnal)
-Grass Skink
-Brown Tree Frog (on a small indoor enclosure)
-Whistling Brown Tree Frog (on a huge outdoor gazebo enclosure)
-(Common Brushtail) Possum (on a large wooden outdoor enclosure)
-Praying Mantis (might be Miomantis caffra, going by the Trust's social media and a sign at the front of the property)


I was also informed that the Trust does still have a freshwater turtle (which, from their social media, looks to be a Chinese Pond Turtle), but despite the smallish size of the property, I could not figure out where it was.

The only future plan that I heard is that the huge tank that currently only holds freshwater snails will eventually hold Giant Kōkopu (Galaxias argenteus), which the Trust does not hold currently.

 

A few updates:

• a new species has arrived - a two-year-old male Pacific Gecko, Dactylocnemis pacificus.

• recent births have included an Auckland Green Gecko and a Duvacel's Gecko.