Auckland Zoo brings Oz outback to life
Tongues of giant forked-tongued lizards flicked in and out as they explored their new enclosure at Auckland Zoo on Tuesday, getting used to the squawks of red-tailed black cockatoo neighbours.
Dubbed ‘Strangely Beautiful Australia’ the $3.2 million new precinct is based around the strange and beautiful creatures from across the ditch.
It includes aviaries, aquariums and exhibits flush with flora and fauna.
The precinct, opens to the public on Saturday.
It took nine months to build and involved 27 companies and more than 23,400 person-hours.
It connects up to the end of the old Aussie Walkabout, home to wallabies and emus, and is the second project to be completed at the zoo this year.
It is part of a $120m, 10-year redevelopment programme being funded through Auckland Council’s long-term plan.
In true Auckland Zoo fashion, the new exhibits are educational.
It allow visitors to find out how and where Aussies themselves may come across the various creatures, including in their own backyards.
The idea was borne out of nos- talgia from the Zoo’s Director Jonathan Wilcken, who has fond memories of watching giant monitor lizards growing up in Australia.
‘‘One of the reasons why I was really keen to have an area where you could stand out on a verandah and view the lace monitors, it because that’s what I used to do when I was young.
‘‘And it’s that idea of wild life thriving, living right close to humans is what really excited us about this exhibit.’’
The biodiversity of the new exhibits is loosely based on southeast Australia’s MurrayDarling region.
It features the goliath stick insect, snake-neck turtles, redback spiders, Huntsman spiders, frogs, water dragons and bright and noisy Aussie birds, to name a few.
‘‘We’re giving people the chance to see the odd, the eclectic, gorgeous, brash and gaudy in ways you might not expect – from life in the inland rivers to what Australians might come across in their gardens’’.
Strangely Beautiful Australia opens to the public from tomorrow, from 9:30am till 5:30pm.
Normal zoo admission prices apply.