Trust Chair reportStrategic Direction
Conservation is at the heart of all we do at the Zoo. From supporting conservation projects in the field, to raising and releasing rare tuatara to developing cohesive conservation messages for all of our visitors, conservation has been a major focus for all areas of the Zoo this year. The development and implementation of our Conservation Strategy and the formation of the conservation steering group will continue to keep conservation top of mind for both Zoo staff and visitors.
Conservation strategy
Wellington Zoo confirmed its commitment to conservation with the publication this year of the Wellington Zoo Conservation Strategy 2008-2010. This strategy underpins everything the Zoo will do for the next three years and highlights our aim to bring the conservation work we do at the Zoo, and the conservation projects we support, to the forefront. The strategy outlines our approach to: conservation projects both in the field and at the Zoo, community projects, environmental sustainability at the Zoo, rehabilitation and conservation research and advocacy messages for our visitors.
The formation of a cross discipline conservation steering group ensures that conservation is a priority in all areas of the Zoo, and that the objectives within the Conservation Strategy are implemented Zoo wide.
Integrating conservation
People can be overwhelmed when faced with the task of saving the planet and conserving endangered species. In recognition of this, we have adopted three targeted conservation action messages that are easily achievable for our visitors. These messages were chosen after significant research and input from both Zoo staff and external conservation professionals.
The messages were chosen to relate to the animals we care for at the Zoo, and what Wellingtonians could realistically do to help the plight of these animals in the wild. Our conservation messages are:
- purchase sustainable timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or New Zealand pine;
- bring cats inside at night and keep dogs on a lead;
- reduce, reuse, recycle.
These messages have been integrated into all aspects of the Zoo including our daily talks, exhibit design, collateral and education programmes. Preliminary results show that our visitors are absorbing these messages, with 41% of visitors able to recall a message after attending a talk – the message most retained (60% of visitors) was to purchase sustainable wood (FSC) instead of unsustainable hardwood.
Conservation in the community
Wellington Bush Builders is a broad-based community project, with school children as the gateway to the community. The aim of this project is to increase awareness in urban children (and their parents) about their local environment and to monitor the wildlife that lives close to the city centre. The Wellington Bush Builders project was piloted in five local schools this year with over 800 children participating.
Bush Builders is a hands-on environmental education programme. Students predict what flora and fauna they will find around their schools and then compare their true findings with their hypothesis. By conducting hands-on surveys and acquiring first-hand knowledge of the biodiversity around their school, we found that in the long term, students increased their awareness of local nature. These results support theory that behaviour and attitude change is more likely to be associated with interactive learning rather than static knowledge retention.
Operational funding for year one of the Wellington Bush Builders programme was supported by a grant from the Wellington Region Foundation.
Recovery
Brothers Island tuatara
For just over six years, Wellington Zoo was the guardian of 53 Brothers Island tuatara – the rarest species of New Zealand’s living dinosaur. Incubated and hatched at Victoria University of Wellington, the tuatara came to us in 2001 and were raised and cared for, off display, at the Zoo. In October 2007 the tuatara were released onto Long Island in the Marlborough Sounds, in conjunction with Victoria University, the Department of Conservation and Te Ati Awa, in hopes of establishing an insurance population for this rare reptile.
Grand and Otago skinks
In partnership with the Department of Conservation, Wellington Zoo is housing and caring for six Otago skinks and six grand skinks for at least the next five years. It is hoped that these skinks will breed to create a larger insurance population to conserve them for years to come. Our partnership with DoC allows Zoo staff to gain valuable field experience by monitoring wild skinks in their natural North Otago habitat.
Grand and Otago skinks are two of New Zealand’s rarest reptiles, estimated to remain in just 8% of their natural habitat and under increasing threat from predators. With no further protection in the wild, these species are predicted to become extinct within the next 10 years. The Department of Conservation has been working on grand and Otago skink recovery in Central Otago for several years. The decision was made in early 2007 to create an insurance population of both species in captivity, to ensure survival of genetic diversity of the skinks into the next decade.
Conservation research
Kererü Discovery Project
Research and monitoring of kererü in Wellington continued in partnership with School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University, funded by a New Zealand Lottery Environment and Heritage grant. In 2007, nine birds were caught up in Otari-Wilton’s Bush and were attached with radio-transmitters. Birds were monitored and observed for their plant preference, and the impact on their home range due to the abundance of food sources. They were monitored until their feathers were shed (including the transmitters). Five nests were also monitored with two of these nests producing fledglings. Interestingly, field work proved more challenging in 2008; several of the kererü shed their transmitters earlier than expected but by increasing the number of kererü studied, research could continue. While the Lottery Grant formally ended in December 2007, the research partnership with Victoria University will continue.
Controlling possums
Research that aims to find effective contraception methods for possums will be conducted at Wellington Zoo under an agreement between the Zoo and Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Biological Sciences.
The Zoo has agreed to house the possums that will be used for research to find effective non-lethal contraceptive methods for possums, and to reduce the reliance on 1080 poison as a method of pest control.
Possums are regarded as New Zealand’s number one vertebrate pest in both ecological and economical terms, and approximately $110 million is spent annually on the control of possums and bovine tuberculosis – primarily using poisons.
Applied conservation research is a key component of our Conservation Strategy that seeks to utilise Zoo resources and foster partnerships that will benefit conservation. Although the facility will not be open to visitors, the research outcomes will enhance the Zoo’s wildlife conservation programmes enjoyed by the more than 182,000 visitors that visit the Zoo annually.
Otago sea lions
The Zoo’s veterinary team assisted the Department of Conservation in the anaesthesia and health examination of several female New Zealand sea lions on the Otago peninsula in May. The animals were fitted with satellite tags and time depth recorders and while they were anaesthetised we took the opportunity to take blood and milk samples.
Disease screening
Wellington Zoo veterinarian staff were invited to be involved in a Landcare Research project looking for blood borne parasites in mammals and birds that may be transmitted via vectors such as the mosquito and tick (blood-sucking insects). Landcare Research is studying a large range of species, but we were tasked with investigating fur seals on the Kaikoura Coast. Our staff helped with the catching and sampling of 62 New Zealand fur seal around Kaikoura.