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The Willowbank Wildlife Reserve has grown over the years and now spans 18 acres in Northwood. It's home for more than 100 different animal species. Park director Mark Willis said staff were looking forward to marking the milestone with guests.
"It's been an amazing month for us. Often, it's nose to the grindstone and working hard, but we've had the opportunity to reflect and understand what's happened over the last 50 years. It's been it's been pretty cool.
" Photos: Geoff Sloan "It's all about connecting with an animal. It's touching and being there, so the kea, the eels, and the farmyard. Those one-on-one experiences, those are the things that people love.
" Willowbank employs about 40 staff and also has a large number of volunteers helping to highlight the country's native species. "What we want to be is the best New Zealand wildlife park in the world, not the the best zoo in New Zealand. So, we're very keen on telling the story of New Zealand wildlife.
There's huge amounts about what's happened in this country that are unique to us and that are very, very special." When the park first opened in 1974, it didn't even have an entrance building. Staff just sat in an old Land Rover at the front, using a shoe box as a till.
Feeding the eels is a popular activity at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. Willis admits zoos and wildlife parks are always evolving. "We had a function and my father gave a speech at it and he talked about the past 50 years, and how much things have changed.
His original vision was for a zoo, and that's not what we are anymore. And we have to understand that life changes and we will too. So what we'll be in 50 years, we don't know, but we hope we'll be here.
" And he's confident Christchurch's Willowbank will continue to play an important part in helping preserve New Zealand’s wildlife and ecology. - By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air.
