Training Time!
Training-time!
In this clip of Keeper Molly, Dingo Blue is training for a protected contact flea treatment. 🐕
Training involves placing a chute in the yard of the Dingo habitat to get them to lie closer to the fence. When Dingoes Blue and Kiah are in this position, Keepers can apply the treatment between their shoulder blades in a safe and protected manner. 👏
Keepers are also able to utilise the training chute for injection training, which involves using a blunt needle is to practice different kinds of injections for vaccines or treatments. 💉
Pretty amazing, don’t you think?
Training health-related behaviors like this one are a crucial part of ensuring that the animals we care for live happy and healthy lives. Alongside health, our Animal Care team also focuses on nutrition, environment, behavior, and mental state to monitor the overall welfare of the 500+ animals who live at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo. 💛
They need us, we need you. 💛
Today we’re sharing the story of Aroha, the newest member of the Kororā Little Blue Penguin colony living at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo. 🐧
Aroha had a hard start to life. He and his brother were discovered on Waiheke Island after being abandoned by their parents. Both very young and malnourished, the pair were looked after by Waiheke Bird Rescue for a few weeks.
Once he had hit a healthy weight and grown his adult plumage, Aroha was deemed fit for release and Waiheke Bird Rescue tried to release him out into the Island. However, his release was unsuccessful and he was brought back into human care.
No other Penguin holders in Aotearoa were able to care for him, so we offered him a home at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo.
The amazing team at Te Kōhanga The Nest have been working to rehabilitate Aroha and treat his sinus infection since May this year. After four months of intense rehab and care, he’s finally back to full health.
It will take some time for Aroha to adjust to his new home with our Penguin colony, so be sure to pay him a gentle welcome next time you’re at the Zoo - he needs all the love he can get.
Injured wildlife like this Kororā need a lot of medical care during their stay at Te Kōhanga, and helping animals who have experienced such unique challenges is something we can only do with a lot of help from you, our community. 👨👩👧
You can help us help them. Donate now: https://wellingtonzoo.com/support-us/donate/
📸Keeper Kristen
This Penguin’s making progress! 🐧
The gorgeous Adélie Pengiun that arrived on Wellington’s shores a couple weeks ago is almost ready to head home.
After her successful health check at Te Kōhanga The Nest, and negative test for avian influenza, the Adélie was moved to our salt-water pool to practice her swimming and ensure her feathers are fully waterproof. 🌊
Perfect waterproofing is essential for Penguins to keep them warm and dry at sea, and this Adélie has a long swim ahead of her!
She isn’t visible to our community at the moment, and keeping the blinds closed on the salt-water pool windows has helped her to feel safe and calm.
Over the next couple days, our Vet team will continue feeding her and giving her time to practice her swimming. She is now at her goal weight of 5kg, meaning she’ll have plenty of energy reserves for her journey. 💙
All going well, this Adélie should be ready for release at the end of the week!
Snow Leopard Day
Someone's excited about International Snow Leopard Day...
Asha and Manju have called Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo their home for the last year and a half and we've loved every minute. ❄️🐱
If you're like us and just can't seem to get enough Snow Leopard content, come along to our Daily Snow Leopard Talk Time - did you know these Ghost Cats can't roar? They have a call described as a sharp 'yowl' that's so loud it can be heard over the roar of a river!
📸 Jo
Otter Habitat Refresh
Come visit the Otter whānau these holidays before they go off display for the next few months! 🏃
Beginning next week, the Otters we care for will be off display while we build them a new den and refresh their habitat. The refresh will provide more choice for the Otters with a larger den and more planting throughout the space. 🌳🌱
The pathway leading to the River Walk will be closed for periods of time while work is being done, so keep an eye out for alternative routes and ask our friendly Rangers and Volunteers if you have any questions!
Aelina on Monkey Island
If you've noticed a new addition to Monkey Island these School Holidays, we’re here to fill you in! 📣🐵
You may remember the story of Aelina the Spider Monkey who was just six weeks old when her mother died unexpectedly last year. Due to her age, vulnerability, and welfare considerations, our Animal Care team hand-reared Aelina until she was big enough to be introduced to the other Monkeys in the troop.
For the last 12 months, Aelina has been living in the Monkey house with her Aunt Florita and another older female named Winnie. Last week, after a lot of careful planning and reworking of the outside habitat, our Keepers decided she was ready to take her first trip onto the Island. 🏝🐒
After spending a few hours playing around the Monkey house, Aelina felt brave enough to venture out onto the Island while our Primate Keepers supervised from afar.
Aelina spent a whole day on the Island and happily went back inside at night after our Keepers tempted her with some dinner.
Aelina’s situation is still unfolding, and it will take some time to introduce her to the whole troop. She’ll continue making supervised visits onto the Island until we’re sure she’s old enough to fend for herself.
To ensure all the Spider Monkeys get some Island time, our Keepers will continue swapping Aelina, Winnie and Florita with our other two Monkeys, including male Aranyó. Aranyó hasn’t had the chance to get to know Aelina yet, and our Keepers want to ensure they’ll get along before both groups are let onto the Island together.
📸Keeper Harmony
Good news for the Kea at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo! 💚
In August, Te Anau was returned to her home in the Kea Aviary after spending several weeks at Te Kōhanga being treated for exposure to aspergillosis.
For the first couple months, Te Anau had a tricky time adjusting to life back in the Aviary. She struggled to gain any weight and wasn’t interested in her food or enrichment. 🥝🌱
Our Ectotherms and Birds team had to get creative when it came to monitoring her welfare, and set up a go-pro with some of her favourite treats above a set of scales so they could monitor her weight.
Now, after months of non-stop effort, Te Anau has finally allowed our Keepers to start training her again, which is a HUGE step forward in her recovery.
Her weight is holding steady, she’s exploring her habitat more, and engaging with enrichment consistently.
Murray and Fern are still being cared for at Te Kōhanga, but they’re doing amazingly well! Both birds are thriving in hospital and are bright, active and very playful.
A recent CT scan confirmed that the severe lesions in Fern’s lungs have resolved, but there are still some changes in one of her air sacs that could be a mild infection, or just old scarring. 🩺👩⚕️
Murray’s lungs are also on the mend, but he still has a small, infected lesion in his left lung. At this stage, our Vet team plan to continue treatment for Murray and Fern for at least another month before running another CT scan. Before we stop medicating the Kea, we have to be completely sure that all the lesions in their lungs have resolved.
This progress is super encouraging! Our Animal Care and Vet Teams have been working on healing these Kea for the past seven months, and their hard work and optimism is truly paying off - Ngā mihi!
📸Keeper Kate
Have you met Minerva and Mayla yet?
These Tassie Devils are loving their new home and can be seen at all hours of the day exploring their habitat in our Neighbours Walkthrough at the top of the Zoo. 🥰🐗
Bring the kids out to visit these little ladies and the rest of our Zoo whānau this holidays!
📸Ranger Anya
Zuri's taking tongue-out Tuesday to a whole new level. 👅🦒
📸Ranger Anya
Otter Enrichment!
Enrichment ALERT! 📢
The Otter whānau at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo has been treated to a teeny tiny raft as part of their weekly enrichment.
Our Animal Care team gets super creative when it comes to keeping the animals we care for happy and healthy. Enrichment activities like this one provide something new for the Otters to play with and help keep them engaged and entertained.🥰
📸Keeper Jacob
