Ups and downs for Natureland zoo animals in lockdown
Nelson’s Natureland zoo is gearing up to open to the public after weeks of lockdown which bewildered some of its animals, and relaxed others.
Keeper Toni Gordon said it had been a strange experience working in the empty zoo, with positive and negative aspects for both staff and animals.
Many of Natureland’s creatures had enjoyed unexpected benefits. No planes meant animals worried about birds of prey could relax more; no children at the glass meant they could sleep in new locations; and some animals, like the 80 kilogram pigs, were allowed out of their enclosures for a bit of a wander each day, knowing there were no guests to disturb.
Another benefit for the animals was keepers could try some more ‘‘experimental’’ activities, things that were very interesting for the animal but perhaps not so exciting for a human audience, Gordon said.
However, the lockdown had left many animals slightly bewildered: the capuchin monkeys, used to interacting with children at the viewing windows, were suddenly much more interested in visits from keepers.
The petting zoo animals like the sheep, used to small amounts of food given throughout the day, were left indignant whenever keepers walked past without a treat – despite being fed the same amount as usual.
For staff, it was also a much changed routine, with small teams of three working at a safe distance.
‘‘A lot of the extra work is cleaning everything.’’ Toni Gordon
Natureland keeper
Gordon said she really missed the education side of the job, delivering talks about the animals and interacting with visitors.
‘‘We have been doing digital presentations on our Facebook page ... Normally our presentations are very interactive, we encourage people to ask questions and let visitors guide the presentation. We can’t do that online, so we’ve tried to do different kinds of presentations to cover all interests.’’
She said one benefit from the experience was spending more time with animals outside of her speciality, lizards, since the small daily staff numbers meant duties were shared around.
‘‘A lot of the extra work is cleaning everything – we clean up after the animals, then clean everything anyone’s touched.’’
Gordon said the zoo would be opening up under lockdown level 2, but with safety precautions in place, possibly a cap on numbers similar to supermarkets’ one-in-one-out policy, and contactless payment.
‘‘We’ll probably keep doing [presentations] digitally, since it’s not a great idea to have people congregating together,’’ Gordon said.
She said as well anyone with an annual pass for the zoo would be granted an extra two months access, since the lockdown meant they had not been able to use their pass.