As part of the prize for winning the Moth Plant Pod Competition, Mikayla Killip and Sydney Causer got the opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes zoo visit at Auckland Zoo.
We started with a session about threatened New Zealand animals which lead into a hands-on activity called ‘pests and pals’. A sheet with the footprints of different creatures and their names was given to us. There were ‘tracking tunnels’ placed around the bird enclosure which had footprints of creatures that had walked through the tunnels. Our task was to look at the sheet given to us and identify which creature it was. Could it be a pest or a pal?
Toward the end of this session, we were told about ways to prevent pests getting to New Zealand species such as the different types of traps.
Another session was about wetas in New Zealand. We learnt about what the zoo was doing to protect the endangered species and we also got to see a baby giant weta. Between the two sessions we were allowed to explore the rest of the zoo and see animals from all around the world. Overall it was a great day and we came back with a lot more knowledge.
Sydney Causer
