We catch up with ectotherm keeper Ben!

In today's Keeper Chat we catch up with ectotherms keeper Ben to discuss the wonderful wētāpunga and our conservation work on their behalf.

Wētāpunga are the largest of all 11 described giant wētā species and much bigger than any wētā you've seen in your backyard! Ben has been instrumental in breeding and releasing over 5,700 of these endemic invertebrates, restoring them on islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

Watch as Ben explains how this mahi has created six potential populations of wētāpunga in the wild, when before there was only one.