Auckland Zoo and Department of Conservation sign new strategic partnership

Today on World Animal Day, long-time partners Auckland Zoo and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have signed a new strategic partnership to deliver even greater outcomes for conservation across Aotearoa.

This evolved strategic partnership framework builds on and celebrates the respective strengths of the two organisations at the forefront of efforts to save native species and advocate for conservation and will identify new areas for collaboration. 

For more than three decades, Auckland Zoo and DOC have collaborated on recovery programmes and fieldwork for some of our country’s most threatened bird, lizard, amphibian, and invertebrate species – from kākāpō, takahē, and tara iti, to pepeketua/Archey’s frog, kapitia and cobble skinks, and our largest giant wētā, the wētāpunga.

Wētāpunga were once holding on by a thread on a lone Hauraki Gulf island. But with DOC and iwi support, a phenomenally successful breeding programme led by the Zoo has seen the release of more than 7,000 of these unique taonga onto eight pest-free islands across the upper North Island – including islands managed by DOC and mana whenua. Now self-sustaining on four Hauraki Gulf islands, these efforts have led to a positive revision of the species’ threat status.

Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley says so many of our native species remain dependent on human care to prevent their extinction.

“Ongoing interventions such as pest control, fenced reserves, breeding programmes, animal translocations and veterinary support are the reason for their survival."

“These kinds of intensive management skills are skills that Auckland Zoo, as a modern zoo and wildlife conservation science organisation, has been perfecting for decades. So, we’re hugely proud to be able to deploy them to compliment DOC’s knowledge and experience in recovery programmes for some of our most threatened invertebrate, reptile and bird species."

“With DOC we also share wider ambitious longer-term aspirations and goals for wildlife and people. Our focus together is on creating a more sustainable future - where we all feel more part of nature than apart from nature, and where species are no longer reliant on intensive care to prevent their extinction,” says Kevin.

“In order for us all to achieve this together, we need to reexamine our relationship with te taiao – the natural environment and all the species that we share it with. An experience at the Zoo helps provide an opportunity for people to connect with nature, to take time to connect with each other, and is a small but significant first step that we can all take to help tune back in to the world around us.”

DOC Director-General Penny Nelson sees this milestone strategic partnership as a huge opportunity for conservation.

“Today’s a chance to streamline how we work together and take advantage of our respective strengths, as we look at exciting new conservation projects to take on."

“When we combine the Zoo’s expertise in breeding, rearing and specialist animal care with DOC’s knowledge and active management of wild conservation sites, we can recover species from the brink of extinction."

“We are currently working together to do that for the tara iti/New Zealand fairy tern: the most endangered bird in Aotearoa with fewer than 35 adult birds surviving today. Intensive management is needed for these birds to have a chance of long-term survival."

“For four years, Auckland Zoo has worked alongside DOC to collect, hatch and hand-rear chicks to boost the wild population. Fifteen tara iti have been safely raised and released to the wild by the Zoo so far, and last summer four incubated and Zoo-raised juveniles contributed to a record-breaking summer breeding season."

“What’s more, a large part of conservation work is advocacy – connecting people and nature. Auckland Zoo, based in the heart of our most populated city, plays a fundamental role in connecting hundreds of thousands of people annually to the unique wildlife and habitats of Aotearoa. That connection can open the door for kiwis and overseas visitors alike to valuing nature and taking action to support our taonga species,” adds Penny.

FAST FACTS (Auckland Zoo & DOC partnership):

• Auckland Zoo has worked with DOC on 14 national recovery programmes for threatened species – ranging from tara iti, kākāriki karaka, tuatara and wētāpunga to mokomoko (including grand skinks, Otago skinks, kapitia skinks and cobble skinks).
• More than 5000 hours a year spent by Auckland Zoo staff to breed and release endangered New Zealand animals.

1. 427 kiwi hatched at the Zoo and released to the wild as part of ONE (Operation Nest Egg).
2. 80 kākāriki karaka/orange-fronted parakeets hatched at the Zoo and released to the wild.
3. 43 whio/blue duck and 170 pāteke/brown teal hatched at the Zoo and released to the wild.
4. 7,000+ wētāpunga bred at Zoo and released onto pest-free islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and Northland’s Ipipiri islands (Bay of Islands).
5. 148 cobble skinks (rescued & Zoo-bred animals) destined for release back to safe areas on the South Island’s west coast in early 2025.

• Since Sept 2011 (the Zoo’s Aotearoa NZ Track Te Wao Nui opening); Zoo staff have worked on 55 DOC field conservation projects across Aotearoa, contributing 28,500 hours.
• Around 100 native wildlife patients each year are admitted to the Zoo’s vet hospital for specialist veterinary treatment and care.

1. Up to 10 kākāpō are treated each year as part of DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery programme.
2. Around 9 sea turtles are treated each year, primarily green sea turtles, two-thirds of which are successfully treated, rehabilitated at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s and released back to the wild.