Congratulations to our December #AucklandZoo100 competition winner - Sandie Gorst! Sandie says of the photo, ‘this was a fun family picnic at the Zoo on a sunny winters day in August 1965. Great Aunty Eva was visiting from Oldham, UK with other family members including our cousins Lynette, Sandra and Janet. Note the Coke in glass bottles with straws!’ Sandie is our final winner of this historical photo competition that ran from January – December 2022 in celebration of the Zoo’s 100th year.* As of this month (January 2023) we will be returning to our annual #zoosnaps competition. Learn how you can win monthly prizes by submitting your zoo photos at aucklandzoo.co.nz/zoosnaps. *You are still able to upload your old photos for sharing with us and the wider community at aucklandzoo100.co.nz but the centenary competition is no longer active.

Have you experienced our South East Asia Jungle Track? 🦧🐅🦦🐊🐠🐟 Fully completed and opened late last year, this immersive and dynamic track features three distinct animal habitats - The Lowlands for Asian small-clawed otters and Sumatran tigers, the High Canopy for siamang and orangutans, and the tropical Swamp Forest for Sunda gharial crocodiles, Indonesian fish and a variety of lush plants and greenery. As one of the most species-rich and threatened places on earth, we’re proud to be putting the spotlight on Southeast Asia - and when you visit you’re helping to conserve many of these species and their ecosystems in the wild! Learn more and get your tickets at aucklandzoo.co.nz/south-east-asia

We’re sharing an update on the Zoo’s emperor tamarin twins! 🐵🙊 Born in late October, these healthy male tamarins are starting to try solid foods like mealworms but are yet to move on to bigger insects. Mealtimes are a great way for these two-month-olds to watch their parents and older siblings and learn how to navigate eating bugs like locusts. In this #keepercam you can see multi-team keeper Elisha has encouraged one of the baby tamarins up onto the scales to get a weekly weight – which is currently 160 grams (and its twin is 180 grams)! Soon, our primate team will be choosing names for these two males. Come and visit the emperor tamarin family this weekend!

Zoo Lates are back on for summer 2023! 🦒 Visit the Zoo after work with your mates or whānau, make it a date night with our two-course dinner at the Old Elephant House (book your spot at aucklandzoo.co.nz) or just enjoy a stroll through the beautiful grounds in the twilight. We’re open late Thursday evenings - 12 January – 2 March 2023 from 4-8pm, with last admissions at 7pm. Adult tickets start from just $15! We have special keeper talks on all night, see the schedule here and on the back of the Zoo Map: 4:30pm Orangutan 5:00pm Galápagos tortoise 5:30pm Spider monkey 6:00pm – Flamingo 6:45pm – Longfin eel 7:00pm – Giraffe T&Cs : Friends of the Zoo (annual pass holders) and all infants (0-3 years old) are free. Avoid the queues when you buy online. Please note - in the unlikely event of a cancellation due to weather, Zoo Lates tickets are transferable to another lates evening of your choice.

You might remember that earlier this year we introduced two female kea to Whenua Waotu (our High Country habitat) – to the delight of our three males! Since then, Pahi and Whero have integrated successfully among the circus (the collective noun for a group of kea!) and have recently paired up with two of the males. It’s currently breeding season (August to January) so you’re likely to see them in and out of their nest boxes when you visit. If you look closely, you might be able to tell the females and the males apart - females have a shorter beak. Here bird keeper Sarah is engaging Pahi in positive reinforcement training – asking her to fly to this perch, and if she chooses to do so, she will receive a food reward. As well as being stimulating for these highly intelligent birds, it also allows our team to see if the birds are flying and walking as they should. Similarly, bird keeper Chris is asking the female kea to raise their wings and lift their feet. In this way, both birds can participate in their own regular health checks and our bird team can monitor their demeanour and body condition. Chris says, “Pahi and Whero have caught on quickly and are progressing nicely with this training. We are very pleased with their progress and hopefully next year we might have a successful breeding season - though it’s still early days.” Head to our kea keeper talk at 2.15pm every day to hear more about these birds from the team who care for them!

You really otter come and visit these guys in their new lowlands habitat! 🦦 Better yet, head to our 11.15am keeper talk to hear more about this rascally romp from our carnivore keepers who care for them. Watch as they utilise all of the dynamic aspects of their habitat – popping in and out of their landscaped dens, swimming through the refreshing stream and warming themselves on the rocks! You may see a stream of bubbles floating up while they swim. The air gets trapped between the two layers of fur to increase insulation and help keep them buoyant in the water. Otters also have partially webbed paws, which as well as being great for swimming, also gives them great dexterity for catching food! We’re open every day these holidays from 9.30am - 5.30pm (with last entry at 4.30pm). Get your tickets at aucklandzoo.co.nz.

Ngā mihi o te tau hou / Happy New Year! Its almost 2023, a perfect time to share some highlights from ‘the year that was’ and say a heartfelt thank you for all your support. It’s been a special year for us – as we continue to celebrate 100 years of being Auckland’s Zoo! To honour this momentous milestone we published a centenary book – Auckland Zoo: 100 Years, 100 stories, created a special website dedicated to our 100th year (including a digital timeline and video series) and designed limited edition 100-year merchandise. Our celebrations culminated in an incredible 100-years exhibition that reflects on our journey to becoming the wildlife conservation organisation we are today! It was an incredible year for the animal whānau at the Zoo with the arrival of two Sunda gharial crocodiles and Sumatran tigers Ramah and Zayana ahead of the completion of our immersive South East Asia Jungle Track. There was also a whole host of animals who hatched or were born this year - including two flamingo chicks, more tiny Galápagos tortoises, the successful hand-rear and reintroduction of a kororā / little penguin chick in a move towards a sustainable colony, as well as the births of Southern white rhino calf Amali, giraffe calf Jabali and orangutan baby Bahmi! You can read more about everything we achieved together this year for wildlife and wild places at aucklandzoo.co.nz/news.

Success! These pāteke ducklings will soon be moving to the next stage of their wild release! 🦆 Pāteke were considered ‘nationally endangered’ until 2008, when thanks to recovery efforts, their conservation status was changed to ‘at risk - recovering’. While this is encouraging, the species is still vulnerable and in need of ongoing conservation mahi. Like many of our endemic species, a major threat facing the recovery of these precious ducks are introduced predators, as well as habitat loss and human impacts. We’re proud to be part of a breed-for-release programme with @docgovtnz and The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, to boost the population of these dabbling ducks that number around 2,000-2,500 individuals in the wild. We currently have two breeding pairs of pāteke whose offspring contribute to this recovery programme. Since 2013, we’ve been able to successfully breed and release 130 ducklings to the wild! The three ducklings you see here are currently in one of our behind-the-scenes aviaries; once they reach eight weeks of age, they’ll head to Christchurch where they will be flocked with other pāteke before release. When you visit the pāteke at Te Wao Nui a Tāne / The Forest you’re helping to support this Wild Work!

In the warmer months, the American alligators enjoy twice-weekly feeds from our keepers! 🐊 We have two American alligators – females Tallulah and Dixie, in our South American Rainforest Track. Did you know? Alligators eat roughly their own body weight in food every year, and in the wild they’d enjoy a diet of small mammals, fish, invertebrates, and birds. Yet when it gets cold, their appetite drops off entirely and they will go several months at a time without feeding. Here you can see keeper Seth encouraging Tallulah out of the water for target training. Seth has built up a relationship with Tallulah for over eight years and says, “Crocodilians are good at reading and understanding patterns. That’s how they hunt in the wild. When it gets warmer, food is a great motivator for alligators to engage in positive reinforcement training with our ectotherm team. We ask the alligators to touch this target and a delicious meat reward will be given – today it’s fish!” This training allows us to move the alligators between different areas of their habitat easily and safely – one such area we’re asking Tallulah to move to is the best place where we can examine her feet, around her body and her head, to ensure she is fit and health. These feeds generally happen on Wednesdays or Sundays (weather permitting) – listen out for announcements over our PA when you visit!

Today is #VisitYourZooDay and we’ve got lots of fun activities for you to get involved in today and over this raumati (summer)! There’s a new play space set amongst the cool of the trees within the Zoo’s South America Rainforest Track - where tamariki can climb poles, test their balancing skills on logs, and slide and weave through the trees. You’ll discover colourful ground trails throughout the Zoo where everyone can whāia te aho (follow the line) – and the squares, circles, and squiggles! Within Te Wao Nui (Aotearoa New Zealand Track) learn to count in te reo, and at the rotunda area – get jumping and learning using the te reo hopscotch. In addition, for a small gold coin fee, the yellow mini diggers are back in action at KidZone – with all revenue from rides going to our Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund to help wildlife in the wild – here in Aotearoa and around the world. We’re open every day these holidays from 9.30-5.30pm with last entry at 4.30pm.

It was a very festive day at the Zoo yesterday! ☀️🎄 With the warm, sunny weather, Christmas-themed ice blocks were a real hit with the Sumatran tigers, African porcupines and Asian elephant Burma! Christmas Day is the only day of the year that the Zoo is closed to our wonderful visitors. We hope you all enjoyed celebrating with your friends and whānau, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you back to the Zoo today. Auckland Zoo is open every day this holiday period. Get your tickets at the Zoo gate or online at aucklandzoo.co.nz 📷 #keepercams courtesy of keepers Kristin, Elisha and Emma

Meri Kirihimete from our Zoo to you! 🥰 Carnivore keeper Kristin made this enriching Christmas wreath for the red pandas to enjoy, sniff and investigate. Not only is it beautiful, it’s also partially edible - with strands of bamboo woven within it. Christmas Day is the only day of the year that Auckland Zoo is closed to our wonderful visitors – yet many of our keepers will be at work tomorrow, spreading the festive cheer and ensuring the animals in our care have a wonderful Christmas. Stay tuned as we’ll be sharing more festive enrichment in the coming days!