Big Boy steals the show at wildlife centre
The long-awaited public opening of the Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery is now closer than ever.
Construction on the centre has finally come to an end, after seven years of planning and building.
There was a ceremonial opening yesterday to celebrate the end of construction and the beginning of the next phase of the project.
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, Massey University vicechancellor Jan Thomas and cofounders Rodney Wong and Bruce Scott were among the speakers at the ceremony.
The centre will provide a place for native wildlife that have been treated at Massey University’s Wildbase Hospital to recover from their illness and injury. The centre also features an interactive education centre where people can learn more about the native species living in the facility.
As construction is now complete, the next step is to move wildlife in and allow them to settle into the facility. There are a pair of ka¯ ka¯ , kereru¯ , a ruru and a tuatara called Big Boy in residence and there will be whio and pa¯ teke moving in shortly.
Sage acknowledged how crucial the lives of individual animals are for conservation efforts, and recognised the role the centre would play in these efforts.
‘‘Every single animal makes a real difference to the survival of an endangered species.’’
She also said that looking after endangered species needed to be something that the public engaged with. ‘‘We need to join together to tackle the predator crisis.’’
Thomas described the centre as being a ‘‘magnet to Palmerston North’’.
Pauline Nijman, supervisor wildlife technician at Wildbase, mentioned that there are as many aviaries off display as are on display within the centre. The offdisplay aviaries will be used to house animals early in their recovery to minimise disturbance.
The entire facility is bilingual, with all signage being written in both English and Ma¯ ori.
Once the wildlife settle in and go through a quarantine period, the centre will open itself up to school groups and educators. While there is still no concrete opening date, the centre is expected to be fully open to the public by early 2019 at the latest.