Wellington Zoo: 100 Year’s Old and Evolving with the Times

Wellington Zoo, the first Zoo in New Zealand, has just celebrated it’s 100th Birthday. Gone are the Chimp’s tea parties and elephant rides, steel cages are slowly being replaced with ‘open enclosures’ and the welfare of the animals and their psychological well-being is put ahead of all else.

In the past ten years Family Lee have always enjoyed frequenting the Zoo, set in Wellington’s rolling hills and overlooking the city. Since the arrival of Charlotte and Sophie our visits have become more often and annual passes make it possible for us to visit on a weekly basis (if not more!). It’s wonderful for the children to learn about so many magnificent animals and learn to respect them and the environments they originate from, which are sadly still threatened in so many parts of the world.

It’s wonderful to see the progress in place to move the animals into much more ‘friendly’ enclosures and the happiness of the animals is clearly evident to visitors.

The Zoo now welcomes more interaction with the animals, on an educational basis, and in recent times we’ve been honored to gently stroke a tortoise and see cheetah’s walk past us, up close and personal. Charlotte is particularly interested in the chameleon and the lions.

But there is, of course, another reason Charlotte loves the Zoo (and the animals have nothing to do with it!). As we left the reptile house and asked, ‘What’s next Charlotte?’ (meaning what animals), she answered, ‘The Kiosk!’. So a mandatory stop for an ice-lolly mid-way was made.

For a wider range of food the cafe ‘at the zoo’, Eva Dixon‚Äôs Place, offers great service, a wide choice of food to suit every mood at varying times of the day and fantastic coffee (always a hit with the parents!). There is also a window overlooking the meerkats, which make for wonderful entertainment, and a beautiful tropical fish aquarium. High chairs are in abundance, children (and parents) are made to feel exceedingly welcome (this cafe is frequented by mother and baby groups, who mix it with business folk having a ‘working lunch’) and has its own ‚Äòenclosure‚Äô for younger patrons, complete with a selection of toys and a slide show of the animal‚Äôs at the Zoo.

Back in the Zoo itself, our oldest daughter, Charlotte, is a fan of the hieroglyphics at the baboon’s enclosure, which hold particular interest as she has developed quite a fascination with Egypt since a visit to an exhibit at Te Papa (that is, when she isn’t monkeying around in one of the many excellent climbing trees at the Zoo!).

What a great morning we had with Daddy at the Zoo! A special day off, midweek, in honor of ANZAC Day. In the afternoon, Charlotte accompanied Daddy to soccer, whilst Mummy and Sophie took a nap! Charlotte loved playing on the sidelines with the other children and didn’t cross the ‘white line’ on any occasion to disturb play (she did however go for a jaunt on the neighbouring rugby pitch – which wasn’t in use – to relieve her bowels! I guess she’s getting quite an ‘all-round’ education from her visits to the Zoo!).