This Saturday and Sunday, Wellington Zoo is excited to welcome visitors to
explore the new Asia Precinct for the first time. This beautiful precinct is the latest project
in the ten year redevelopment of Wellington Zoo.
The Asia Precinct includes the
brand new ASB Malayan Sun Bear exhibit, home to Sean and Sasa, as well as the
redeveloped Pub Charity Sumatran Tiger exhibit, home to Cantik and Rokan.
Last Friday, special guests
were treated to a sneak preview, when the new precinct was officially opened by
Wellington Mayor Her Worship Celia Wade-Brown, on behalf of Wellington City
Council, the principal funder of Wellington Zoo.
"The Asia Precinct is
a terrific opportunity to encourage interest in endangered species, their
importance to global biodiversity and the effect of our everyday choices.
"The Zoo is important
in terms of our city's biodiversity - it's our window on the world and part of
our connection to the planet," said Wade-Brown.
The Mayor was joined at the
official opening by special guests from ASB and Pub Charity, the major
supporters of the precinct, and Matt Hunt, Chief Executive of Free the Bears, Asia.
"ASB is delighted to
celebrate the opening of the new ASB Malayan Sun Bears exhibit,” said Linley Wood,
ASB Executive General Manager, Culture and Community. “Our families will now have the opportunity to
experience these intriguing animals in an environment dedicated to education, conservation
and, of course, fun. Working in partnership with Wellington
Zoo provides the community with the chance to get up close
and personal with rare and exciting wildlife.”
“We have a great interest
in wild life preservation and wellbeing and applaud the efforts of everyone
striving to assist conservation. The importance of getting the message across
and informing people of the needs is both very necessary
and very important,” said Maurice Hayes, Chairman of Pub Charity.
“Pub Charity’s support
towards the Asia Precinct, particularly to redevelop the Sumatran Tiger exhibit
has indeed assisted in a wonderful result. The exhibit with the dedicated
roaming space, training areas, boardwalk and all facilities certainly enables
visitors to get up close with an excellent view of these magnificent animals.”
“We are hugely grateful for
the support of Wellington City Council, Pub Charity and ASB in creating these
beautiful new homes for our Sun Bears and Tigers” said Karen
Fifield, Chief Executive of Wellington
Zoo.
“We see the Asia Precinct
as part of Wellington Zoo’s
contribution towards Wellington
2040, where we can demonstrate environmental leadership by providing a new home
for these wonderful animals. Having Matt from Free the Bears to help us open
the new precinct was especially poignant; Sean was one of the first Sun Bears
rescued by Free the Bears in Asia, and is a
great ambassador to connect our visitors with the important conservation work
we support.”
“We’re also excited to have
visitors get closer than ever to the Sumatran Tigers,” shared Ms Fifield. “These critically endangered animals help to
raise awareness of their wild relatives, who we support through 21st
Century Tiger, a conservation organisation which contributes directly to wild
tiger projects.”
The Asia Precinct opens to
visitors for the first time from 9.30am this Saturday with celebrations and
activities running all weekend – including face painting, arts and crafts,
performers, special Asian food, giveaways and more.
Thanks to the support of
ASB, visiting the Zoo will be even easier all school holidays with the wild ASB
Free Zoo Bus running every day – more details and a timetable are available
here.