What's On at Zealandia

The 2024 collection of toitoi has now happened! A small team joined a group of Taranaki Whānui ki te Ūpoko o te Ika whānau on April 20th  to collect toitoi from Kohangapiripiri at Parangarahu Lakes. These ika/fish are now in quarantine at Zealandia for around four weeks to ensure they are nice and healthy before we release them into Roto Māhanga.

There will be some closures on Te Māhanga track from May until the end of June as part of a very exciting project to release the population of  pepeketua/Hamilton’s Frogs from their enclosures later this year. 

The first of its kind in the world, Zealandia’s fence prevents all kinds of mammalian predators from entering the 225-hectare sanctuary inside. 

The curved top hat stops climbing predators, the skirt prevents burrowing mammals, and the mesh is fine enough that most mammals can’t get through (the only exception to this is baby mice). It is also high enough so that jumping animals can’t get over. 

While the fence does a fabulous job keeping out mammalian predators, invasive plants are a bit trickier to contain. 

Our conservation team have been on the hunt recently for floral pests in previously unsearched areas of the sanctuary.

Recently a rainbow skink (Lampropholis delicata, also known as plague skinks) has been spotted in Glenside. You might remember our story earlier this year about these lizards which had yet to make their way to Wellington.  
 
We are asking that everyone – particularly those living or traveling in the areas where these skinks are known to be found – to be especially alert, and to please give your gear an extra thorough check before coming to the sanctuary.

As always, biosecurity checks of your bags at the biosecurity gate help keep Zealandia free of harmful species such as plague skinks.

Now that the days are getting shorter, we have begun preparing for winter and will be moving to winter hours from Wednesday 1 May until Saturday 31 August..
 

Over the years, we've done a great job introducing different native wildlife to Zealandia – birds, fish, plants, you name it! But our job doesn't end there. After they settle in, we keep a close eye on them. Our Conservation team shares what goes down post-translocation. And trust us, it's more than you might expect! 

As the hihi breeding season wrapped up in March, we started see many of the season’s juveniles emerging from the depths of the ngahere/forest and becoming more visible.

It is with deep sadness that the team at Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne confirms beloved takahē Nio died over the weekend.   

This year we will carry out the second of three planned reintroductions of the freshwater fish species toitoi/common bully to Zealandia’s waters.