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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

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Coordinates: 43°27′46″S 172°35′39″E / 43.46278°S 172.59417°E / -43.46278; 172.59417
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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
Map
43°27′46″S 172°35′39″E / 43.46278°S 172.59417°E / -43.46278; 172.59417
LocationChristchurch, New Zealand
Annual visitors120,000+
Websitewww.willowbank.co.nz

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife park and nature reserve in Christchurch, New Zealand.[1][2]

As well as having public displays of various animal species it also carries out conservation of native species including tuatara, kiwi, brown teal, and Duvaucel's gecko. Willowbank also holds the only pair of takahē on display in the South Island of New Zealand outside a Department of Conservation facility.

Rata is a North island brown kiwi chick who was incubated, hatched and raised at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

History

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Willowbank Wildlife Reserve was opened by Michael Willis and his wife in October 1974.[3][4] Initially the park operated as a typical zoo, with a mix of exotic and farmyard animals on display for visitors. As Willis became more interested in animal conservation, the park began to incorporate more native species and rare farmyard breeds.[3]

A capuchin monkey escaped from the park in 2009.[5]

Willowbank hosts the New Zealand Conservation Trust. The trust breeds and hatches kiwi, raising 200 kiwi chicks between 2007 and 2013. Eggs are collected from the wild and brought to the facility to ensure that they hatch successfully.[6][7] In addition to a normal outdoor habitat, Willowbank features a nocturnal viewing house for kiwi, allowing guests to see them during the day. The kiwi house was built from two kitset barns, and was opened in 1996 by Princess Anne.[8] She also serves as the patron of the trust.

A waterway in the middle of the park is home to large New Zealand longfin eels, which visitors can touch and feed. In 2012 two men broke into the facility and photographed themselves after killing several of the eels with spears.[9]

The kea at the facility have been the subject of scientific study. One study[10] looked at their intelligence, with one co-author of the paper describing their ability to draw statistical inferences as "unprecedented" in birds.[11] Another study was conducted on one resident kea, Bruce, who is missing the top-half of his beak. The study investigated his use of small pebbles as tools to aid in preening, as supportive measures to overcome his disability.[12] The study received international media coverage.[13][14][15]

During nationwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the general manager and her family lived in the zoo to look after the animals.[16]

Willowbank is one of only three places where takahē can be viewed by the public—the others being Pūkaha / Mount Bruce and Zealandia—so is the only such place in the South Island.[17] In 2021 the park received a breeding pair of takahē.[18]

In 2024 Willowbank announced that they had purchased the International Antarctic Centre for an undisclosed sum.[19]

Species

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Willowbank houses 95 species that are divided into three sections: exotics, heritage farmyard and New Zealand natives.

The exotics section houses international species including blue and gold macaws, scarlett macaws, capuchin monkeys, capybara, small-clawed otter, ring-tailed lemurs, black-and-white ruffed lemur, star tortoise, leopard tortoise and green iguana.

The heritage farmyard section works alongside the Rare Breeds Conservation Society,[20] holding and breeding species of farm animals that are dying breeds including Arapawa goats, Damara sheep, Enderby Island rabbits and zebu.

The New Zealand natives section houses species from around New Zealand including kea, kaka, North Island brown kiwi, South Island brown kiwi, Okarito brown kiwi, great spotted kiwi, morepork, New Zealand falcon and tuatara.[21]

See also

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References

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Bibliography

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  • Willis, Michael (2019), Rescue: One New Zealander's crusade to save endangered animals, Christchurch, New Zealand: Quentin Wilson Publishing, ISBN 9780995105348, OCLC 1129897457

Citations

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  1. ^ Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, TripAdvisor.
  2. ^ Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, New Zealand Tourism Guide.
  3. ^ a b Newth, Kim; Jackson, Charlie (1 June 2020), "Michael Willis to the Rescue", Latitude, retrieved 12 September 2024 – via PressReader
  4. ^ Willis 2019, p. 27.
  5. ^ Eleven, Beck (11 August 2009), "Monkey goes on the run again from Willowbank", Stuff, archived from the original on 28 July 2021, retrieved 12 September 2024
  6. ^ Mathewson, Nicole (3 October 2013), "Willowbank gets two new kiwi eggs", Stuff, archived from the original on 5 October 2013, retrieved 12 September 2024
  7. ^ Bunny, Sara (28 June 2011), "A walk on the wild side", Stuff, retrieved 12 September 2024
  8. ^ Willis 2019, pp. 201–203.
  9. ^ McPherson, Samantha (28 November 2012), "Eels 'mindlessly slaughtered' in wildlife reserve", NZ Herald, retrieved 12 September 2024
  10. ^ Bastos, Amalia; Taylor, Alex (3 March 2020), "Kea show three signatures of domain-general statistical inference", Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, Nature Publishing Group UK, doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14695-1, ISSN 2041-1723, PMC 7054307, archived from the original on 4 May 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
  11. ^ Thomas, Rachel (3 March 2020), "Study on kea notes unprecedented smart behaviour", RNZ, archived from the original on 18 April 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
  12. ^ Bastos, Amalia; Horváth, Kata (10 September 2021), "Self-care tooling innovation in a disabled kea (Nestor notabilis)", Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, Nature Publishing Group UK, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97086-w, ISSN 2045-2322, PMC 8433200, archived from the original on 26 January 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
  13. ^ Bakalar, Nicholas (10 September 2021), "Bruce Is a Parrot With a Broken Beak. So He Invented a Tool.", The New York Times, archived from the original on 13 May 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
  14. ^ Corlett, Eva (12 September 2024), "'He has adapted': Bruce the disabled New Zealand parrot uses tools for preening", The Guardian, retrieved 12 September 2024
  15. ^ Bowler, Jacinta (13 September 2021), "A Disabled Parrot in New Zealand Has Taught Himself to Use Tools For Self-Care : ScienceAlert", ScienceAlert, archived from the original on 25 February 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
  16. ^ "What lockdown life in a zoo was like for a Christchurch family", RNZ, 8 May 2020, archived from the original on 21 January 2022, retrieved 12 September 2024
  17. ^ Haxton, David (16 May 2013), "Endangered bird makes plucky recovery after amputations", Kapiti News, archived from the original on 9 June 2021, retrieved 12 September 2024 – via NZ Herald
  18. ^ Allott, Amber (8 July 2021), "New takahē pair welcomed to Christchurch's Willowbank Reserve", Stuff, archived from the original on 4 September 2023, retrieved 12 September 2024
  19. ^ Kerr-Laurie, Brett (30 October 2024), "Willowbank Reserve buys the International Antarctic Centre", The Press, retrieved 31 October 2024
  20. ^ Trotter, Michael; McCulloch, Beverley, "Willowbank Wildlife Reserve", www.rarebreeds.co.nz, archived from the original on 28 January 2023, retrieved 12 September 2024
  21. ^ "Our Animals - Willowbank is divided into three different sections.", Willowbank Wildlife Reserve & Restaurant, 14 June 2018, archived from the original on 2 September 2024, retrieved 12 September 2024
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