I've always wondered why no NZ zoo had brought in a walk-through weka enclosure. It just seems so obvious with such a friendly but also flightless bird. Out walking among the weka - waikato-times | Stuff.co.nz
This sounds like a great idea, weka are very confident birds and will likely make a very visible and interactive exhibit! Might need warning signs for toddlers though! They can bite! They cant really be kept with other ground birds, eg. ducks and banded rails were in the large walk-through free-flight aviary and thats why the weks weren't in there before. It sounds like they have just fenced off the part of the zoo where the native reptiles, frogs, hawks, owls and antipodes parakeets are, so visitors will still be on the same forested path, just sharing it with the weka. I'm going there on Monday, so will let you know how it looks, and works.
Glad Hamilton recognises for visitors a need to get up close and personal with native wildlife ... that they are unlikely to see in the wild (and goodness forbid the golden hordes would claim the great Kiwi outdoors in large numbers). For this a zoo is a good and proper interpretative function.
Karori/Zealandia in Wellington is getting a takahe pair this year. I don't know anything about their enclosure but it could well be walk-through (potentially they may even be free within the entire sanctuary rather than enclosed)
They have also put up a sign in the weka walkthrough exhibit for Blue Duck, near a pond and waterfall, so I think it may now also have Blue Duck in it, although I did not see any myself.
Well actually, I found out that there is another weka walk-through.... Thats been around for over ten years... And is only half an hour from Hamilton Zoo (wonder where they got the idea from)... The Otorohanga Kiwi House and Bird Park has had a walk-through weka exhibit for at least the last 15 years according to the staff member I talked to on Friday, and it certainly looked at least that old. They also have free range weka in some parts of the park, which had some chicks which we saw.
Weka Walk exhibit at Hamilton Zoo receives international acclaim From Hamilton Zoo's website: Weka Walk exhibit at Hamilton Zoo receives international acclaim, Hamilton Zoo - Weka Walk Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia
Ok not a zoo but try tiri tiri matangi - they were wandering around outside the visitor centre when I visited a few years back
the Karori takahe pair are housed within a fenced area that the visitors can walk through, so there is your takahe walk-through Hix
