HAMILTON ZOO AT A GLANCE
Situated in Brymer Road on the outskirts of Hamilton and covers 25 hectares.
Founded in 1969 and bought by Hamilton City Council in 1976. Now home to more than 600 native and exotic animals.
Popular attractions include the Sumatran tigers, the chimpanzee exhibit, the American Plains bison and a large collection of savannah animals.
Features New Zealand’s largest free-flight aviary as well as a rainforest walkway, reptile house and a parrot court.
The city’s second most-popular tourist destination after Hamilton Gardens, it attracts 120,000 visitors a year.
Has New Zealand’s largest collection of endangered species. including proposals to host luxury camping, or glamping, on the zoo grounds, to build a cafe or function centre overlooking the entire site, and to create a shared entranceway with nearby Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park.
There was also a proposal to reintroduce lions.
Former Hamilton mayor Russ Rimmington campaigned to bring pandas to the city in 2001 and says the zoo’s point of difference is its collection of endangered animals, such as tigers and white rhinoceroses.
The zoo has New Zealand’s largest collection of endangered species.
Rimmington says it would be a tragedy to scale back the zoo in the wake of Kudeweh’s death, but does believe safety processes need to be improved.
‘‘Twenty-five years ago, there was a collective decision to focus on endangered species and it’s proven to be the right decision. The council is on the right track and they’ve been doing a great job with the zoo,’’ he says.
Rimmington says petting zoos have limited appeal and are difficult for councils to sustain. Hamilton Zoo is a city asset and needs its supporters to rally behind it.
‘‘At the moment, the zoo’s critics are coming out and making a noise and you’d expect that. But it just needs to keep its focus and examine its processes and get better. We don’t have animals burrowing under fences or climbing fences and roaming around Dinsdale. It’s about ensuring best practices are in place.’’
Councillor Angela O’Leary chaired the working party that developed the draft zoo master plan with assistance from United States-based planning and design firm Studio Hanson Roberts.
The draft plan is expected to be presented to councillors in December. Public consultation is timed for the summer holiday period.
O’Leary says zoo staff contributed to the document and didn’t believe Kudeweh’s death should prompt a rethink of the plan.
‘‘The plan is about the future direction and development of the zoo. It doesn’t talk about technical issues around health and safety. Hamilton Zoo is such a special, unique zoo and people feel a strong connection to the zoo. We need to embrace what we’ve got and enhance that.’’
One of the master plan’s goals is to highlight the conservation work the zoo does, such as adding to the biodiversity of endangered species.
‘‘I know that was a message Sam definitely wanted to put out there and she would want the plan adopted,’’ O’Leary says.
‘‘The zoo isn’t just about animals in cages or a fun day out with the kids, it’s got an important environmental and sustainability role.’’
Hours before the first visitors file through the zoo’s gate on Thursday, much appears normal.
The smells of life and richness burden the air as the warmth of the spring morning is replaced by cold rain.
Inside the Sumatran tiger enclosure, Sali and her young offspring, Kirana and Kembali, patrol the perimeter fence, occasionally glancing at their human observers.
Next door at the tiger observatory, Mencari moves silently between the bamboo glades.
The tiger’s large U-shaped pool is empty save for a few halfsubmerged buoys.
As to the zoo’s future, perhaps comfort can be drawn from the animals themselves and their capacity for survival and connection.
Antle hopes tigers will remain part of the zoo’s family.
‘‘It’s essential that tigers can be seen and zoos exhibit these incredibly animals. They are the greatest calling card of conservation and their physical form has the capacity to change people’s lives.
‘‘The ancient calligraphy of their phenomenal stripes has to be God’s greatest paint job. I certainly hope the zoo can recover.’’