New Zealand’s 10 best wildlife sanctuaries revealed

The latest royal visit to New Zealand saw the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall take to the wilderness at the Orokonui Eco Sanctuary, where they came face to face with an ancient native tuatara lizard, known in Māori as ‘peaks on the back’.

The 307 hectare Orokonui Ecosanctuary sits 20km north of Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island. With an ongoing project to restore an entire forest ecosystem to its pre-human state, it is hoped that the sanctuary will provide a haven away from introduced predators for native birds, lizards, fish and insects.

Together with Orokonui Ecosanctuary, experts at New Zealand in Depth have drawn up their top 10 wildlife sanctuary experiences from across New Zealand including:

Tiritiri Matangi Island (Auckland) is one of the most successful conservation projects in the world, and provides a pest-free habitat for a number of rare and endangered species. More than 20,000 visitors take a ferry or private boat to the island each year to walk the tracks populated with abundant wildlife.

Moutohora (Bay of Plenty), otherwise known as Whale Island, is one of New Zealand’s little known treasures and home to a number of New Zealand’s rare and endangered plants, birds and reptiles. Due to the precious nature of this pest free island access is highly restricted to the general public who are only able to visit with a Department of Conservation approved concessionaire.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari (near Hamilton, Waikato) is New Zealand’s biggest ecological restoration project for native wildlife and home to rare and endangered New Zealand birds including takahe, kiwi and kaka, all just a 15-minute drive from downtown Hamilton.

Cape Sanctuary (Hawke’s Bay) is New Zealand’s biggest privately owned and funded wildlife restoration project. Taking over three farm properties on the Cape Kidnappers peninsula in Hawke’s Bay it includes world famous gannet colony, and the vision is to bring back other coastal communities of land and sea birds, reptiles and invertebrates that once lived on the peninsula.

Ulva Island (Southland) was visited by Prince Harry earlier this year, and has escaped the invasion of predators making it a safe place for native birds to prosper and it is home to many varieties of birds, other fauna and flora. It is an open sanctuary with 4.5km of public walking trails, native forest and white sandy beaches.

Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre (Wairarapa) pioneered captive breeding techniques for some of the New Zealand’s most threatened birds. It is now an internationally recognised facility for a number of threatened New Zealand bird species. Visitors can enjoy guided tours of the forest, feed eels, see native birds being fed and tour the kiwi house and interactive gallery.

Kapiti Island Nature Reserve (Wellington) is one New Zealand’s most important sites for bird recovery. Species such as the kakariki/red-crowned parakeet, kaka, robin and bellbird have increased since the eradication of predators. The little spotted kiwi, now extinct from the mainland forests, also thrives on Kapiti Island. Visitors must have a permit to land on Kapiti with numbers restricted.

Zealandia: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (Wellington) is an inner city slice of native paradise within New Zealand’s capital Wellington. Zealandia is acknowledged as one of Australasia’s top 25 ecological restoration projects with 252 hectares of native flora and fauna. With over 35km of tracks through regenerating forest there is the chance to experience it both during the day and night.

Motuara Island (Queen Charlotte Sound) attracts bird lovers from all over the world. Since the eradication of pests in 1991, it has become a wildlife refuge for some of New Zealand’s most endangered native species including the South Island saddleback, Maud Island frog and the Marlborough green gecko.

With such a wide range of endemic species across New Zealand, Paul Carberry and the team at New Zealand in Depth, are proactively supporting opportunities to encounter endemic wildlife and conservation projects.

For more information and expert advice on travel to New Zealand, visit www.newzealand-indepth.co.uk, telephone 01298 74040 or email explore@newzealand-indepth.co.uk.

Photo Credit: Matt Binns (via Wikimedia Commons)