Day 17 – April 16, 2025 – Zealandia, bird sanctuary

Leave a Comment / New Zealand / By Howard Lasser

We had a “day at leisure” so we decided to go to Zealandia. Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne is the world’s first fully fenced urban ecosanctuary with an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore the valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to pre-human state.

Set around a picturesque reservoir, Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne is home to some of New Zealand’s most rare and extraordinary wildlife—all thriving wild in a world-first protected sanctuary.

We got a taxi to take us the 10-minute drive, or hour long walk, to the entrance. There we joined a 2-hour guided tour through the valley.

The most crucial aspect of the sanctuary is a pest-exclusion fence, designed to exclude 14 species of non-native land mammals ranging from deer to mice, which encircles the 8.6-kilometre (5.3 mi) perimeter of the sanctuary. Construction of the fence was completed in late 1999 and all mammalian pests within the perimeter were then eradicated over a nine-month period. This predator-proof fence is of great conservation significance, being a world first design to bar all terrestrial mammals from mouse size up.

Our walk took us by the reservoir and through lush forest paths. Birds and bird sounds abound.

After the walk, we took a shuttle to the top of the cable car that we had taken the other day. We took it down to the city center and walked back to our hotel.

Tonight was our last night in Wellington. So, we packed and got ready for a wonderful dinner at Shed 5. Though I am not a lover of fish and seafood, the Bluenose was really good! This is a fleshy fish found in the deep-water trenches around New Zealand.

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