Kakapo on display in Auckland

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philbattley
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Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 2:21 pm

Kakapo on display in Auckland

Postby philbattley » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:27 am

Seems that there will be a Kakapo on display at Auckland Zoo next week.
Bookings essential.

Details are at http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/kakapo/

From the website:
Sirocco the kakapo
Meet a national treasure – SIROCCO the kakapoNight tours at Auckland Zoo
14 – 23 September (6pm – 9pm)*
Pre-booking and pre-purchasing of tickets for tours is essential
Tickets: $20 Adult, $10 Child, $50 Family (2+2), under 3 years free
All tickets (as per membership type) purchased by Friends of the Zoo members from 8 September will receive 20% discount
See FAQ section


Sirocco, one of just 124 kakapo in the world, is visiting Auckland Zoo next month in celebration of Conservation Week (13 – 20 September).

Whether you're a local or a visitor to Auckland, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet this extraordinary and charismatic bird, the world's largest and rarest parrot – found only in New Zealand, and today only surviving on a few southern sanctuary islands.

It's a great honour for the zoo to have 12-year-old male Sirocco visit – an advocate for his species who's become something of a conservation superstar! His visit is being made possible thanks to our partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and its Southern Islands' Area kakapo team.

We're opening part of the zoo late especially for this nocturnal VIP. Tours will run nightly from 14 – 23 September between 6pm and 9pm. Conditions apply* – please read carefully.
Rewi

Re: Kakapo on display in Auckland

Postby Rewi » Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:50 pm

Thanks for posting this, Phil!

I was going to fly down to Stewart Island when the bird was on show there a few months ago
but I wasn't available, so this really is a good opportunity.
Cheeky bloody zoo though, charging the two of us forty bucks for a 15minute look through
the glass. That's really taking the pee, innit? Not quite sending the right message to the
public about conservation.
A zoo is the last place on earth that any of us want to see species, but as man's campaign
of global annihilation continues, I guess this will be the way that we members of the 'last
post' get to see things from now-on, as the lights go off across the world, one at a time.

Still, it's being so cheerful that keeps me going..........

Rewi
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Brent Stephenson
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Location: Havelock North, New Zealand
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Re: Kakapo on display in Auckland

Postby Brent Stephenson » Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:42 pm

Hey Rewi,

I reckon your ticket to Stewart Island would have been a little more than $20 though aye :lol:

Let's just hope that most of that money goes to the Kakapo Fund...could this actually mean DOC is finally realising the worth of gems like the kakapo? Shock horror...the realisation the sensible eco-tourism might yield funds for conservation. Can we call people visiting a zoo to see the World's rarest parrot 'eco-tourism'? Perhaps charging 'commercial' ventures crazy permit application fees isn't the only way to make money...sorry, look who's being a cynic now :roll:

Cheers,
Brent Stephenson
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ - Great birds, real birders

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