After returning from my adventures around the South Island I was still left with a few days of my mid-semester break to enjoy the wonders of Wellington, and so I took a day to go to the Zoo. I'd like to start by thanking Massey Uni because they gave us all free passes when we first arrived so my admission into the park was entirely free, and to a uni student free always good. I did decide to make a donation to the Zoo upon arrival though. I was extraordinary lucky the day because the Welly weather was on my side, of course it was still a little windy but it was sunny and made for a beautiful day to be outside. The Zoo isn't really within walking distance from where I live so I jumped on a bus. For anyone that knows me knows I haven't used public transportation much alone, and I was slightly anxious. I was fine though and it was an easy bus ride. Getting adjusted to bus timetables and bus rules is such an experience and I'm most definitely still learning. It was a time I was missing my best friend Julia, she has always been my guide for all things public transportation, but I channeled my inner Julia and navigated through the bus systems and found myself at the Wellington Zoo. It's not a huge zoo but it was a really nice zoo, filled with a variety of animals to observe for the day.
It's hard to narrow down a favorite from the day, but penguins have always been my favorite animal so I was especially excited to see them! People tell me the penguin is my spirit animal and in the Zoo they had three blue penguins. They are the smallest type of penguin and so adorable. Of the three penguins they have two that can never be set back to the wild due to injuries. The injuries were caused by house cats actually, house cats are a main killer to these penguins and to the famous New Zealand Kiwi. Throughout the day I saw and was told if I had a cat to make sure I brought them inside at night so that they couldn't pray on these endangered animals.
It's hard to narrow down a favorite from the day, but penguins have always been my favorite animal so I was especially excited to see them! People tell me the penguin is my spirit animal and in the Zoo they had three blue penguins. They are the smallest type of penguin and so adorable. Of the three penguins they have two that can never be set back to the wild due to injuries. The injuries were caused by house cats actually, house cats are a main killer to these penguins and to the famous New Zealand Kiwi. Throughout the day I saw and was told if I had a cat to make sure I brought them inside at night so that they couldn't pray on these endangered animals.
If you're wondering too yes I did finally get to see a Kiwi! They are nocturnal creatures so I won't be able to show you pictures, but they were so small and they were rather noisy animals too. After seeing some of the native birds I got to see so many different monkeys. These small monkeys were absolutely adorable, so hyper, and playful. There were larger monkeys around too and I think the biggest difference I noticed right at the beginning was how open the exhibits were. I'm use to there being complete separation between me and the animals but at this Zoo distance was the only thing that separated us. Of course they had some fences but if the monkey's really wanted to come over and say hello I feel like they could do it.
Speaking of open places there was a whole section of the Zoo dedicated to Australian animals and so they had Kangaroos just hopping around, and when I say this I mean literally they weren't in any cages. I could sit down and eat my lunch and a kangaroo could hop right past me. It was such a different experience then I was expecting. Plus this was rather exciting to me because I was never expecting to get to see a kangaroo in New Zealand.
This next group of photos and animals I saw is for Emily and Meghan back at SU! You guys should know as soon as I saw the Giraffes I thought of you :) There were two giraffes and I don't think I've ever seen these beautiful creatures in person before. The height of them was absolutely astounding. Their necks were so long and these giraffes in particular really liked sticking their tongues out at me so I got a bunch of cute photographs of them doing that. I took a picture of the sign outside the giraffe exhibit too because I thought it was funny. They had similar signs to this one outside most of the animals exhibits. All of them slightly different but still the signs withheld that sweet as Kiwi humor.
I went to the Zoo solo and it gave me the opportunity to observe not only the animals but all the people around me. I spend the day listening to kids laugh, cry, and say ridiculously funny things about the animals. It was sweet to be able to see how New Zealand parents taking their kids to the Zoo is just like I remember my trips to the Zoo when I was a kid. Since growing up I tend to have mixed feelings about Zoos but I appreciate that the Wellington Zoo takes well care of their animals. But a part of me would prefer the animals be free to live in the wild, but I can see the positives and negatives to keep animals in captivity especially for those of endangered species. The Wellington Zoo recently added the Red Panda to their animals very recently and although I didn't get a lot of time to see this animal I did get to see him/her for a good 30 seconds when he walked out from his nap. The red panda is very similar in size and colour of that of a fox.
The Sun Bear was another animal that spent most of the day sleeping in it's tree but she/he woke up a few times to say hello. I think it'd be nice to bask in the sun all day like these bears.
Not too far from the Sun Bears were the Baboons, and one baboon in particular was a spitting image of my Dad! (just kidding Dad, love you) But these animals like the small monkeys I saw earlier were so hyper and loud. It was hard to find a moment when they were still enough to get a good photograph.
Well I've been through pretty much all the animals now so I think we're ready for the show stoppers, and probably some of the most popular exhibits at the park, the big cats, including but not limited to Tigers, Cheetah, and Lions. There were other smaller cats but these were the big guys (and girls). I think it was ironic the Cheetah is the fastest mammal in the world and the Cheetah I photographed was amazingly still. He/she barely moved a muscle while I was watching.
At the Wellington Zoo they had three female lions and two male lions. The female lions were all sisters and they were all 13 years old, which the Zoo-taker said was a rather old age for a female lion. They were gorgeous creatures to look out, and so powerful. It is definitely not an animal I would like to come into contact with in the wild. The male lions looked just as powerful and perhaps it was because I saw them during feeding time that I thought they looked very tough.
Our last but certainly not least large cat is the Tiger, some of my favorite photographers from the day came from photographing this beautiful Tiger. I'm not sure if it's the bright orange color of their fur or the sweet as black and orange pattern they have that make them so beautiful. I observed this Tiger in particular I lot throughout the day so I saw her/him eat lunch, go for a swim, and even take a nap. Since the Zoo was not very big and I left the whole day to spend here I found myself getting to see most of the animals two or three times. This worked out in my favor too because at different times the animals seemed to be more or less active and it allowed me to see most of the animals (even it for just a few seconds). If you ever find yourself in Wellington I'd highly recommend giving it a go!