more baby meerkats at the zoo: Wellington Zoo's meerkat pup ventures outside | Stuff.co.nz I was at the zoo today (first time since August), and noted that: * the red-fronted macaw does not appear to be on display any more (the sign has been removed from the aviary it shared with tamarins, agoutis and sun conures) [EDIT: I just saw when going to upload some photos, that Hix had put up a photo three weeks ago of the macaw getting bandaged up in the hospital, which would explain its absence from the aviary] * there is now North Island kaka on display at The Roost (the frogmouth and sacred kingfishers having been moved into the same aviary to free one up), and the aviary that had held little owl (and before that, morepork) is now empty with a sign saying "Animals Coming Soon" * the water dragons are now on display in the last of the reptile row tanks. The Reptile House (the former kiosk) looks no nearer completion than before. * there is a sign at the sun bear enclosure saying it will house tahr when the bears move to their future enclosure (this is probably a sign that's been there for ages and I just haven't noticed it before) Just some asides: * the zoo does like the "human element" in it's exhibit design: the reptile tanks all look quite nice but all have what are (in my opinion) unnecessary extras, i.e. the water dragon tank has an angler's table with binoculars, a box of fishing flies and a rod; the inland bearded dragon tank has a rucksack and water canteen hanging from a branch; the Cunningham's skink tank has a petrol sign and strings of barbed wire; and the stumptail/blue-tongue tank has a bush-hat hanging from a fence post. * the zoo's new green iguanas are housed next to the pigmy marmosets and emperor tamarins, and they have the same horrible theming as the monkeys, in this case cassette tapes and posters of The Lounge Lizards, a poster of Godzilla, towels hung from washing lines (because they bask in the sun), etc. I didn't actually see the iguanas as it happens, but I'm not sure if they aren't on display yet (or just not today) or if it was because the reflective glare off the glass made it almost impossible to see inside most of the exhibit. In case it wasn't obvious, I don't like the marmoset/tamarin exhibit, but I know some people do so each to their own.
two baby agoutis were born at the zoo in November which didn't get mentioned on here yet (photos of all the babies on the link -- except the agoutis!): Wellington Zoo - Baby boom at Wellington Zoo
The zoo broke its all-time attendance record with over 200,000 visitors: Wellington Zoo - Wellington Zoo visitation hits record high
it doesn't explicitly state it in that article, but the major reason for the higher-than-usual visitation was almost certainly due to "Happy Feet" the emperor penguin; probably the kakapo chick didn't hurt either.
for those that like to know the names of all animals at zoos, the pigmy marmoset has now been named Gemini (after a Trademe auction to pick the name).
