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Auckland Zoo the all glowing review of my visit, September 2012

Discussion in 'New Zealand' started by Chlidonias, 9 Oct 2012.

  1. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I keep saying I will write a little review of Auckland Zoo from my visit there on the 20th September, and I have finally got round to it.

    First of all though, I’ll just make it clear that when I’m travelling around zoos don’t usually have first priority. My trip to Auckland was primarily for birding purposes, and the zoos (Auckland Zoo, Butterfly Creek and Kelly Tarltons) were fitted in around that. This meant that Auckland Zoo was visited on the final day of the trip before heading to the airport. I got there at 9.30am for opening time but had to leave at about 1-ish, so I didn’t have as much time there as I needed. For a first time visit it is definitely an “all day zoo”; I rushed quite a bit of it unfortunately. I have been there once before but that was back in the early 1990s and it has changed immensely since then. I’m also not one of those people who examine zoo maps before a visit and plan routes: I just turn up and look at the map when I get there! (Also I didn’t take any notes while I was there so I’m writing this while looking at the map to jog my memory).

    Quick opening remarks: the zoo was fantastic, certainly world-class, easily the best in New Zealand, almost all the enclosures/exhibits were top-notch. I have some very minor quibbles which I’ll pop in here and there as I’m writing, but really the good folk up at Auckland Zoo should be very very proud of themselves. If I was to give it a rating out of ten I’d give it a nine. Perhaps it is just because it is so improved from my first visit here, and quite likely I’m not going to be as critical of it as I am of Wellington Zoo because I have been to Wellington more and seen it change so much from what I used to know and love, but honestly there just isn’t a lot for me to severely criticise at Auckland Zoo!

    So, first up: the gift-shop. I got to the zoo five minutes or so before the gates opened, but the gift-shop was already open handily enough, so that’s where I went first. I was very impressed with this shop. Most zoo shops have all sorts of tacky and irrelevant crap in them but Auckland Zoo’s shop is like a little gold-mine. Something I particularly liked were the hand/paw prints of various animals from the zoo (tamarin hand-prints, tiger paw-prints, that sort of thing), presumably done while the animals were under anaesthetic during examinations. And there were paintings done by the elephant (I guess: or one of the apes? I forget which). I’d rate the shop somewhere up around ten out of ten.

    The route I took was to the left because I wanted to see the aviaries first and also that seemed to lead in the most interesting way to Te Wao Nui. It was early morning so the first few animals were still asleep (the red pandas and otters) but their enclosures were very well themed I thought. The two tiger enclosures were obviously modified pits from the old days but revamped so brilliantly that I’d rate them far above, say, Orana’s much newer ones (which are basically bare grass with a few logs, surrounded by chain-link). The “Aussie Walkabout” was excellent (albeit all the macropods were asleep up the back) and the walk-through Australian aviary was brilliant, somehow appearing much larger than it actually was. I didn’t like the inclusion of mutations in this aviary (the zebra finches) but otherwise very nice indeed. I was trying to keep just ahead of a primary school that had inconsiderately chosen the same day as me to visit the zoo, so I didn’t linger quite as long as I might have otherwise done at the aviaries. It was nice to see some columbids here and not just parrots, especially the bleeding heart doves and Cape doves (two of my favourites in NZ aviculture). The lovebird aviary was excellent; I’m not sure what it was originally for, and it was more stylistic than natural in its interior design, but it suited them well, and rarely (in NZ zoos) do you see lovebirds housed in a good colony. And frankly that’s the only way they should be displayed! The brolga pair with their chick was also a delight.

    Around this area was where I decided I didn’t like what I considered the confusion of paths leading all over the place. I felt like I might be potentially missing exhibits. But it wasn’t long before I discovered they all merge at the band rotunda and it’s actually not confusing at all!

    The Tropics was not entirely excellent but pretty close to it. The spider monkey island was good (all the monkeys were laid out in the sun as if they were dead!); I didn’t like the siamang enclosure so much, it seemed kind of dark and enclosed; the agouti in the former lion tamarin enclosure remained hidden and really needs a better enclosure for viewing; I liked all the bromeliads along the walls by the path here. The squirrel monkey enclosure (formerly for bonnet macaques) is absolutely better than those at Brooklands and Wellington (I haven’t seen the ones at Wellington yet, but I know the cage they are in). It was fun watching them trying to catch insects out of the air. I reckon this would be an ideal place for displaying agoutis too (throw out the small-clawed otters). The tarantula house was very well presented (the original giraffe house I have since learned!!) and the tanks themselves were nicely furnished; I’m not a big fan of the bare tank look for tarantulas. The tamarin/marmoset area was well done, but I thought the pigmy marmoset cage was far too small (my own personal opinion of course). The golden lion tamarin island works very well indeed and comes across much better in person than in photos. I liked too how one can look down from here to the reptile terrariums (sadly the scheltopusik was hidden and I could not see it).

    I breezed rather quickly past the alligators, lemurs and orangs, with a detour to cast an eye over the porcupines, more red pandas and meerkats (annoying reflections on the windows of the indoor part, but otherwise fine), and then on to Te Wao Nui. The animal I most wanted to see here were the short-tailed bats. Apparently this is why I think the numerous paths through Te Wao Nui are confusing, because I didn’t follow the proper route, but looking at the map I still think there are far too many paths through the area. Anyway, rather than going through The Coast first (I did that last) I headed straight across that big main bridge and down into The Wetlands, and then into The Night (where due to the presence of many many screaming children I did not see much!), then The Forest, The High Country, looped back across to The Islands, and finally The Coast. I put some comments on the Te Wao Nui thread, which I’ll cut and paste below:

    I was running short of time by this point (intended re-visits to see if I could spot the agouti and scheltopusik were not accomplished!), so I did a speed lap of the whole African section. Your typical African savannah stuff doesn’t really interest me overly much in zoos so I was never going to spend long in this part anyway. Briefly, the serval enclosure was one of the best I’ve seen anywhere; the hippo enclosure was fine (the hippos were happy in their wallow); erm, I don’t honestly remember the cheetah or baboon enclosures at all; the leopard tortoises unfortunately were off exhibit for the winter and there were some chickens in their place; the flamingos were lovely (the only ones in NZ of course, and hence the first time I’ve ever seen them in this country) but I didn’t think their enclosure looked particularly conducive to successful breeding (and they only have 15 of them now anyway sadly); I didn’t like the lion enclosure at all but that was purely from a personal stand-point -- I just think it looks weird having lions on an island surrounded by a moat!; and finally Pridelands (the savannah area) was nice but was really looking quite drab. I know perfectly well they can’t have grass in an area that size with a lot of hooved animals walking around on it all day, but the bare sand really doesn’t look appealing. I think maybe also it’s the contrast between all the greenery in the rest of the zoo and the dry sandiness of this area.

    The last part of the visit was a swift look round the KidZone which obviously isn’t aimed at someone like me, but I had a quick look anyway because there are some animal exhibits in there (insects, frogs etc).
     
  2. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Blasphemy!

    No mention of the giraffe or elephant exhibits either. What kind of zoo review is this?!!!

    A very nice one actually. The Auckland Zoo goes on the "must see" list. Thanks for the comprehensive review.
     
  3. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    oh sorry, I forgot. The giraffes are in Pridelands. The name might imply that is the lion enclosure but it is a double savannah space (is it actually linked, or two completely separate areas? Anyone?), one part with white rhino and springbok, and the other with giraffe, zebra, ostrich and guineafowl. Unlike some African savannahs in New Zealand, all these species are actually African!! It is actually very nice, with the path rising from ground level upwards as you walk around it, and there are viewing platforms as well. My only issue with it was the minor one of how it looked visually (i.e. barren and grassless). I'm not sure at all how they could make it more visually appealing.

    The elephant enclosure I apparently didn't notice. It is up by the flamingoes. How does one miss an elephant one may well ask!

    On a side note: what is usually in the enclosure directly opposite the flamingoes? It was empty apart for keepers working on it.
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    and another thing: why doesn't Auckland have hunting dogs? They would be an ideal addition to the African area!!
     
  5. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Great little review Chlidonias, bout time:D!

    The two Pridelands paddocks were previously accessable via gaps in the log wall seperating them, but only the guineafowl and springbok could fit. I think, however, that the logs have been added to, and now the springbok are restricted to the Rhino side.

    I'm not sure what enclosure opposite the flamingoes you are refering to, the elephants, lions and leopard tortoises are all technically opposite the flamingoes at different angles. I think, however you are referring to the area in front of the food kiosk, in that central area now called "African Waterhole", which was previously occupied by tables and chairs, and now is a large rock surrounded by a pool of shallow water for kids to play in.

    The lions aren't on an island, they are on a peninsula (as are the spider monkeys - not the same one though :D), and it really is a nice enclosure - great views over the pridelands and visitors area, big trees and rocks, and enough space for everyone.

    The tiger pit, the larger enclosure, is an original (1920s) enclosure, that housed lions until they moved to the Pridelands in 1997. The newer enclosure replaces an original pit (most recently holding red pandas) and some other big cat cages, and only the back wall (again 1920s) remains. Did you visit the NZCCM up the path between the two enclosures?

    I agree that the Siamang enclosure is too dark, although the animals do seen to do well in there, they are always very active and loud! Hopefully, in time, the Siamangs will get a bigger, especially taller, enclosure elsewhere, and new species can move in here (I hope Brazilian tapirs and maybe capuchins). Moving the agouti in with the squirrel monkeys sounds like a good idea, as is getting the otters out of there.

    Did you like the Kidzone building? Cope with all the angles? :D
     
  6. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Agree, but where? Space is very limited. Pridelands was all done and dusted before hunting dogs really appeared in the country, so they were never planned for. A canid (and ursid) species would be excellent additions to the zoo, all in good time.
     
  7. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I thought you'd like it. While I was writing it I was thinking I wouldn't mind going round Auckland Zoo with you some time because you're more familiar with the place and could correct all my stupid notions and give me some interesting tales (such as the one about the tarantula house originally being a giraffe house).

    that'll be the one. It had a fence around it though. When you're standing in front of the flamingoes but facing away from them, with the elephant enclosure up the path to your left and the lions to your right, the bit I'm meaning is right in front of you. On the map there is indeed a kiosk behind it. Sometimes I'm not very observant.

    peninsula-schmeninsula. It's for lions! Who cares. Maybe if they were jaguarundis I would have bothered taking a second look :p

    I did like the spider monkey (okay then) peninsula: not sure if it was just because it was new to me but I liked it better than the Wellington and Orana spider monkey islands.

    honestly I liked the pit enclosure better than the newer one. The NZCCM was closed to the public that day according to a big sign on the pathway.

    I did like the KidZone. And I did meet an angel there. Oh wait, angle? Never mind.

    well that may be one of those stupid notions you are required to rid me of. I'm looking at the map but I can't remember what the terrain is like, or if there are service areas in the way.....but there are green areas on either side of Pridelands. Other than that I can only suggest bush dogs in The Tropics :D

    I'm not sure where they could put sun bears either, but that would likewise be a good addition.




    What is the Willow Island on the map? Are there any animals there, or is it just a pondy lake sort of thing? I may or may not have seen it.
     
  8. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Haha, yeah, that would be cool.

    Not to give away all my tales at once, but just to give you a taster, the spider monkey peninsula juts out into the old elephant swimming pond.

    The green area inside the zoo is the main service area, that on the other side is Western Springs Park, which I agree would make a nice addition to the zoo (I'd love to see some hyaenas kept in there), but is unlikely to become part of the zoo. Liking the bish dog idea though :D

    I don't think Willow island has ever been an exhibit itself, although it would certainly have been used by the waterfowl which were kept on Central Lake, mute swans most recently. The island (this is actually an island!) is reached by a bridge and Willow Castle, this was previously accessible to the public, and can be hired out, but hasn't been open for probably more than 10 years now. The bush behind the island has a cool little maze of paths running through it, which is quite cool. I expect this area will become part of an Asia precinct, with expanded Orang enclosures among others.
     
  9. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I visited Auckland Zoo more than once in the early Nineties. I was also struck at how much better it was than the other New Zealand collections, certainly on a par with 'neighbouring' Australia's Taronga Park or Melbourne. I was surprised at its quality even then.
     
  10. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Great review! The next step is to upload a couple of hundred updated photos into the ZooChat gallery.:) In all honesty there are loads of photos of the fairly new Te Wao Nui complex but not many shots from the rest of the zoo. I didn't see the siamang exhibit anywhere in the gallery, and does the orangutan exhibit consist of a grassy field with a few wooden climbing frames? It seems like a hugely disappointing enclosure.

    It would be great if new photos could be uploaded consisting of at least one shot of each animal habitat so that overseas ZooChatters could get a comprehensive overview of the entire zoo. I often wonder if Auckland Zoo gets so many rave reviews on this forum simply because there is nothing else in New Zealand that is half as impressive, or is Auckland really that superb? Even Australia only has 4-5 major zoos and so there isn't much comparison in that region of the world. Do folks visit many tiny, average-quality Aussie and New Zealand wildlife parks and then are blown away by how great Auckland Zoo is...or is Auckland truly one of the world's great mid-sized zoos?
     
  11. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    you mean like for Cincinnati, where there is apparently a photo of every single enclosure at the zoo? :rolleyes: ;)

    I think the siamang cage would be very hard to actually get a decent photo of because of the way it is viewed. I didn't like it. And yes the orang exhibit is disappointing, being mostly grass with climbing frames. I don't pay a lot of attention to apes and what-not at zoos so I glossed over that one. The orangs has always been one of the poorer displays there, although I suspect when it was constructed it was state of the art, or at least visually (for the public) better than what most zoos had (i.e. actual cages). It doesn't appear to have changed since the nineties. However it certainly isn't a bad enclosure from the animal welfare point of view, and it doesn't detract from the zoo at all.

    probably a bit of both. Most Australasian zoo-goers on this forum aren't obsessed with everything being massively expensive and immersive, with as many species packed in as possible where-ever there's the tiniest bit of room. They tend to judge zoos on their own merits rather than try and compare them to other facilities elsewhere. But I think you'll find that those members who have travelled and visited zoos elsewhere still find very many of those disappointing in comparison. I mainly visit Asian zoos of course, but Auckland rather reminded me of Singapore in many ways (very very different in many ways as well, of course). Zooboy28 recently tripped round a wide variety of European zoos and I believe he still thought Auckland Zoo was one of the best he'd seen. Some of the Australian members likewise weren't as impressed with a lot of the overseas zoos as they had thought they would be.
     
  12. Shirokuma

    Shirokuma Well-Known Member

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    I've never been to Auckland Zoo but I am a big fan. I think it looks like a great place and I look forward to visiting one day; it's pretty high on my wish list (higher than places like San Diego for example).
     
  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I think most people would be impressed with Auckland Zoo. I wouldn't mind visiting San Diego, but from what I have read about it I don't think I'd be incredibly impressed. For me, if a zoo has loads of substandard enclosures as San Diego apparently still does, then it can't be considered world-class. It can be famous, sure, but not world-class. To use an analogy, whether a sports team is considered world-class doesn't depend on how hot their cheerleaders are or how expensive their uniforms were, it depends on their performance as a sports team. And zoos are the same. Their performance is determined by how they are presented to the public, the ratio of good to bad/poor enclosures, things like that. The number of animals does enter into it of course, but only if you think that only big zoos can be world-class. But then you have the problem of the bigger the zoo the more flaws there are inevitably going to be.

    Auckland Zoo has some disappointing enclosures (e.g. the orangutans, siamangs, and some others) but none of them are bad. Pretty much the whole zoo is made up of good or very good enclosures, with a wide variety of species (even taking into account NZ's import restrictions), in a very nice setting (lots of greenery). From the visiting public's point of view it also ticks all the ABC bases: elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, sealions, lions and tigers, apes, flamingoes, monkeys.....there are a couple of ABC absences (bears for one) but I doubt anyone notices that.
     
  14. Moebelle

    Moebelle Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Problem?.....:) And if you were wondering, yes there is a photo of literally every single exhibit at the zoo, all of them.
     
  15. PAT

    PAT Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    You really summed it up perfectly. My favourite medium sized zoo is still Melbourne Zoo and it's only surpassed by the likes of Rotterdam, Chester etc. which are all massive in comparison. Many international Zoochatters seem to think that Australian/New Zealand zoos suffer from a lack of animal diversity but as individual zoos, Melbourne, Taronga, Perth, Auckland, and Adelaide could all be considered comparable with the rest of the world for their size. The problem comes from the fact that each of these zoos has an almost identical collection and if you were to visit each one then you might start to feel a bit of dejavu.
     
  16. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I think part of the problem is that Australia and New Zealand have such boring animals. Who would want to see a platypus, wombat, numbat, kiwi, tuatara, kea, or any other such creature? YAWN. No wonder your zoos are such snooze fests. :rolleyes:

    I think snowleopard's comments are off base (and a bit insulting to Aussies and Kiwis). I found Taronga Zoo and the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to be as interesting and high-quality as any zoo in the U.S. I'm amazed that countries with populations as relatively small as Australia and New Zealand (there are roughly twice as many people in California as in Australia and 2.5 times as many people in Los Angeles County as in New Zealand) can support so many zoos as these places do. It seems like these zoos replace their outdated exhibits at least as fast as their sisters zoos do in North America and Europe.
     
  17. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    I agree with most of this (as well as everything Chlidonias said), but I must say that I felt Deja Vu regularly when visiting the European zoos, which seem to share a massive amount of species themselves, especially of Australian and South American species - every zoo seemed to have a "Pampas Paddock" with a mix of Camelid, Tapir, Capybara, Rhea, Mara, Giant Anteater, Screamer and Swan. I think the degree of diversity in Australasia is not as disimilar to that in Europe as commonly thought (especially if you exclude the diversity hotspots in Czech Republic and Berlin).
     
  18. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    What photos are you after? Most exhibits are in the gallery, but the siamang enclosure is pretty much impossible to photograph. I have photos of almost all other enclosures.

    The Orang enclosure is the worst in the zoo, but its considerably better than most Orang enclosures I have seen, and I doubt you would call it "hugely disappointing" if you saw it in person. Basically there are two large enclosures, with two seperate groups, which feature small pools, long grass, large flaxes, climbing frames and ropes, some of which are very tall, and quite variable terrain. There was a trampoline in one for a while :D. They are certainly big enough, but would definitely benefit from more vertical space and vegetation (as most such enclosures would). I would say that this area will be completely renovated in the next ten years.
     
  19. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    @David: I LOVE Australia and I lived there for 2.5 years when I was younger (Bunbury, south of Perth). I also spent 6 weeks travelling all around the nation in 2007 on my honeymoon, and if my wife and I won the lottery we'd have to make a serious choice between southern California or south-eastern Australia as our final destination. Taronga and Melbourne are great zoos, Adelaide is a wonderful little zoo with a terrific sense of history, and places like Healesville Sanctuary are superb. I adore Australia and cheer for that nation in everything from World Cup soccer to cricket to Olympic sporting events. Canada will always be #1 but the Aussies are right up there!

    However, after visiting 14 zoos/aquariums in quick succession in 2007 (and having been to 18 in total in my life) there is the sense of deja vu due to the draconian importation laws prevalent in that nation. Seeing wombats is awesome, but then after they are seen at every tiny mom n' pop wildlife park (of which there are over one hundred across the country) all of a sudden wombats are taken for granted. The number of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians found in Australia and nowhere else on the planet is staggering, but at the same time many run-of-the-mill wildlife parks contain them everywhere you go. The cost to enter Aussie zoos is highly expensive as Taronga is $45, Australia Zoo is $50 and even small places are super-pricey; the Asian and Australian species on show are practically the same at every zoo; and the nation lacks a truly great aquarium. The wildlife facilities are wonderful and I'd go back in a second, but they are most definitely very similar to each other and that might never change due to the strict import laws.
     
  20. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    having seen zooboy28's recently-uploaded photos of the current state of the orang enclosures, I will retract my statement that it hasn't changed markedly since it was built. It still isn't great but likewise it certainly isn't bad at all.