September 2025
Back in February, the International Congress of Zookeepers (ICZ), held their triennial congress in Wellington. Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo Chief Executive, Karen Fifield MNZM, has been President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) for the past two years and was instrumental in bringing the ICZ Congress to Wellington.
The West Coast Penguin Trust has been honoured to be a Conservation Partner of Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo for over eight years. It was a further honour when manager, Inger Perkins, was invited to be a speaker at the ICZ Congress. The title of the conference was “Me tiaki, kia ora! We must look after our environment so all life will flourish”, which was fitted perfectly with the trust’s work.
From small beginnings to National Advocacy: Protecting New Zealand’s threatened Sea Birds
Speaking on Valentine’s Day, Inger introduced the trust’s love for penguins, its history and its work with a special focus on the two West Coast penguins and the Westland petrel. Congress participants were able to see the little penguin or kororā in the ‘meet the locals’ section of Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo. She acknowledged the invaluable and much valued relationship with the Wellington Zoo Trust, Te Nukuao Tūroa o Te Whanganui a Tara.
“I wanted to emphasise the value of that partnership and to encourage zoos around the world to connect to and support community conservation organisations like ours. In addition, I demonstrated that zoos can play an important role in awareness of conservation issues to their visitors, especially where there may be opportunities to encourage changed behaviours that will result in better outcomes for threatened species. Such actions may be keeping dogs safe and secure at home where home is close to those species. Actions could be broader such as minimising the risk of plastic entering our oceans. And of course, securing funding and donations is a constant!”
Using a classic Dr Seuss quote, Inger appealed to the zookeepers to find a way to get visitors to care “a whole awful lot”. Having studied Conservation Psychology, she explained that it is “is the study of reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world”.
The opportunity for zoos and aquaria to motivate conservation is huge and Inger had seen this done brilliantly while travelling in the US throughout the Monterey Aquarium.
“There was an interactive pretend real cost café with video responses to your food choices explaining the impact on the environment and better choices, incredible art works made from litter and messaging encouraging readers to help keep plastic out of the sea, to choose ocean-safe products, and illustrating how the aquarium walks the talk.”
Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo also works hard to raise awareness of issues and encourage responsible behaviours, whether relating to managing waste or dog ownership, including their ‘Save our kororā – Take the lead’ campaign.
The support from the ICZ to include Inger at the conference to share the trust’s story and encourage zookeepers to take on this awareness role was very much appreciated. The ICZ also raised donations for the trust’s work through the registration process, which was a wonderful surprise.
While materials were chosen that would stand up to the harsh coastal conditions, those same coastal conditions are conducive to plant growth! Occasional checks of the fences have been carried out by volunteers and rangers so that any maintenance needs can be identified and remedied. The never-ending need for maintenance is managing the vegetation that can grow through the fence, for example gorse, blackberry and hydrangea, pushing it to breaking point in places, or flop over causing damage from the weight of rank grass, rushes and weeds such as montbretia.
Volunteers recently spent a few hours tidying up the main fence along Woodpecker Bay north of Punakaiki so a big shout out to them - thank you Fiona, Jony, Reef, Katrina, Mandy, Marty, Teresa and Deb! Flax had been pressing down on the fence, but now the fence has been freed up by these wonderful volunteers - and they picked up a fair bit of rubbish too.
Volunteer Natassja Savidge has offered to check and help maintain the Hokitika penguin protection fence and joined Ranger Lucy Waller and Manager Inger Perkins in May to inspect the length of the fence. Some minor issues were found but the main finding was the extent of the vegetation growth that was damaging the fence in places. Big thanks to Natassja!
