And that's a wrap...2022!

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 (and is open to zoo visitors until June 2023)!

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!

We also said a very fond haere rā to Asian elephant Anjalee who moved across the ditch to our friends at Taronga Western Plains Zoo for her future health and wellbeing, and to give her the chance to have a calf of her own. We’re pleased to report that she is has integrated into the herd wonderfully and has formed a close bond with four-year-old female Kanlaya.

We’ve achieved a lot for wildlife conservation this year with your support – continuing our vital work out in the field in Aotearoa New Zealand. This included a hand-rearing and release initiative as part of the recovery programme for tara iti with our partners at the Department of Conservation, continuing our mahi for North Island brown kiwi through the Operation Nest Egg programme, helping to hatch and rear hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin chicks at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital and conservation research and monitoring programmes for northern striped geckos and the Alborn skinks, and returning another 23 critically endangered Kapitia skinks back to the wild on the South Island’s wild West Coast…the list goes on and on!

We continued to support conservation projects around the world through the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund – in Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific, and recently announced a special small grants round focusing on the 150 most threatened species in Aotearoa with support from our new principal partners Barfoot & Thompson.

As always, our incredible Zoo veterinary team lent their conservation medicine skills to care for wildlife from the wild. This year the team cared for taonga species like kākāpō, dealing with the debilitating disease cloacitis, two emaciated albatross’ that used the last of their reserves flying in stormy weather, a weak and dehydrated kororā / little penguin found in Devonport, a North Island brown kiwi injured by a dog bite and incredibly, removing two fishing hooks from the stomach of a sea turtle!

And…to top off this extraordinary year, we launched the first season of an exciting new wildlife documentary series ‘Wild Heroes’ that focuses on the work of the Zoo and our partners both in the zoo and beyond. Watch it on Three Now!

You support all of this work and more every time you visit us, become a valued annual member, donate to us or bid on one of our unique experiences raising funds for conservation. We look forward to seeing you over the summer!