Auckland Zoo

The Auckland Zoo, run by the Auckland City Council together with the Auckland Zoological Society is the major zoological garden in Auckland.

The zoo dates back before its opening in 1922 and after having surmounted the difficult early years, in 1930 the zoo finally boasted a large collection of wild animals and the zoological society was constituted.

Today the zoo is divided into areas dedicated to the origin of the animal species, classified ‘taxonically’ (according to their presumed natural relationships) or by ‘biome’ (major ecological community type).

The zoo also plays a major role in the conservation, research and education of animal and plant species, which are mainly from New Zealand.

The zoo offers many modern features including the New Zealand Center for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) and by 2010 the zoo hopes to open its biggest development project ever created, the Te Wao Nui, an area exhibiting native New Zealand flora and fauna.

The Auckland zoo shelters 179 animal species for a total of 1300 animals living on an area of 50 acres (200,000m2).

The exhibition sections are divided into groups depending on the area they orogionaly came from. At the zoo you may admire the animals in the following areas:

The Elephant Clearing House – Home to one of the zoo’s Asian elephants.

The Aussie Walkabout, a walkthrough exhibit where visitors can watch kangaroos, wallabies, kangaroos and other native Australian creatures, leading to an aviary featuring a host of Australian birds such as rainbow lorikeets.

BNZ Kiwi house is a nocturnal creature viewing area mostly housing creatures from New Zealand, such as kiwis, morepork and even tuataras.

The Hippo River is an area dedicated and transformed into an wetland imitating the natural African environment, where you will find baboons, hippopotamus, cheetahs, serval, baboons, and many other African species.

The Primate Trail is where to find orangutans from Borneo and the ever popular ring-tailed lemurs.

The Native Frog Research Centre is where the native frog’s habitat has been recreated.

The Newstalk ZB Rainforest is an area teeming with nature exhibits such as tarantulas, agouti, fruit bats and other primate species including; golden lion tamarins, cottontop tamarins, spider monkeys, siamang gibbons and bonnet macaques.

The Paddlepop Kidzone is a section of the zoo dedicated to children with a play area housing small rural animals.

The Pridelands is where large African mammals can be found, including ostriches, giraffes, zebras, springboks, white rhino and five lions.

The Sea lion and Penguin Shores is the home to the Californian sea lion, New Zealand fur seals, a sub Antarctic fur seal, small penguins and some shore birds.

The Tiger Territory featuring two rare Sumatran tigers, a male called Oz and a female called Molek, who gave birth to three cubs on June 12, 2008.