Zoo’s future unclear as update plan sees daylight

A draft plan outlining a major redevelopment of Hamilton Zoo has finally been revealed after a delay of twoand-a-half years — but the $80,000 document may be dumped in favour of a native wildlife park with no exotic animals if the new mayor gets his way.

The Hamilton Zoo draft master plan was put on hold after the death of zookeeper Samantha Kudeweh, who was mauled by a Sumatran tiger in September 2015.

However it was finally released this week after the Herald lodged a complaint to the Ombudsman, who ruled the Hamilton City Council had no good grounds to withhold it from the public.

The council first declined to release the document while it was being prosecuted for Kudeweh’s death. But after sentencing was completed it withheld the information on the grounds that it would affect the public consultation process and it would soon be publicly available. That date was at least eight months away from the time of the initial OIA request.

The plan — which cost council $80,000 and was developed in 2014 with input from councillors, external advisers and overseas consultants — proposes a major multimillion-dollar revamp of the zoo, including facilities for overnight glamping.

The plan proposes creating 10 visitor experience zones which would include an entrance point with a cafe/ function centre and information centre, a bush walk, an aviary which would be redeveloped, an expansion of the existing Savannah exhibits, a primate area and an area named Carnivore Corner housing tigers and Asian small-clawed otters.

There would also be a facility called Waterhole Camp which would offer a “safari-style en suite tent” for people to stay overnight at the zoo.

As part of the plan the neighbouring Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park would be linked with the zoo and share the zoo’s facilities.

The redevelopment was broken into five stages totalling an additional $16.21 million for capital and construction costs on top of the long-term plan budget.

Hamilton City Council general manager of community Lance Vervoort said the costs would need to be revisited as they were two years old. The first phase was expected to begin in 2014/15 and the final stage was due for completion by 2025.

But mayor Andrew King, who felt council should have released the plan earlier, has disagreed with it and wants the zoo to become a hospital for injured native animals and a native wildlife breeding centre.

“I want the budget kept and the staff to stay, but I want it to become a hospital for injured animals and I would like to see it as native New Zealand animals only.”

Councillor Angela O’Leary, who chaired the project, strongly disagreed and felt it was important for a city Hamilton’s size to have a zoo.

The plan would be discussed at the community and services committee in April and would be subject to public consultation.