Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
There's no such thing as a typical week for the team at Te Kōhanga, also known as The Nest.
In addition to zoo animals like lions, tigers and giraffes, the Wellington Zoo's animal hospital team also treats over 400 injured native animals each year which they help to rehabilitate and then release back into the wild.
Veterinarian Fiona Esam wouldn't have it any other way, telling Country Life it's "completely different" to her previous experiences working in a companion animal clinic.
"In day-to-day community practice you do sometimes see some native [species] but generally if you have somewhere to send them, you send them there for specialist care. Here we see so many more native wildlife patients than I did before."
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In addition to caring for native species, Te Kōhanga is set up to treat every species within the zoo except for the giraffes, which Esam described as "just too big".
Weigh scales are built into the floor which allows veterinary staff to weigh everything from an anaesthetised lion on a gurney to the zoo's resident sheep which can be walked onto the scales due to their "good manners". The operating tables have extensions for larger animals.
There's also an onsite laboratory for testing and processing, along with species-specific areas like a paddling pool and aviary to help with native bird species rehabilitation.
Most mornings start with the team checking on the birds which have been brought in by the public - some days as many as six new birds can come in, while other days there'll be none, Esam said. After this, the team checks in with zoo and hospital patients, before completing any final bird treatments at the end of the day.
The public are able to watch many of the procedures through large windows and an audio-feed with an intercom that allows them to ask questions.
In the hospital, when Country Life visits, are four kererū, a cape petrel and a kororā, or little blue penguin, named Aroha.
Photo: RNZ
The kererū are all victims of window-strike and have sustained chest injuries during their fall which means they can't fly, according to team leader and vet nurse Shanna Rose.
"We usually get them when a member of the community finds them in their garden not flying and fortunately they bring them in to us and we can assess them."
Often when a bird hits a window they can also then be targeted by a cat or a dog adding to their injuries, she said. Birds are especially vulnerable to window strike during breeding and after spring when the fledglings are "pretty clutzy".
Rose said they also see an influx of patients when seabirds are blown off course during stormy weather - like the Cape Petrel which they suspect was stormblown and came in emaciated.
Photo: RNZ
Aroha, the little penguin, came from Waiheke where he was abandoned as a chick along with a sibling. He was then raised by a community group but refused to be released so has been brought to Wellington to join the zoo's resident penguin colony.
Each bird that gets brought in gets a full health check, including an initial exam. Once stable they are put under anaesthetic for a more thorough check for things like fractures. A lot of the time, treatment involves rest and pain relief, supported feeding and fluids, Rose said.
When the birds are almost ready to be released, they are placed into an aviary for flight strength training and waterproofing.
Of the six birds currently being cared for, Rose is hopeful each will be able to be released into the wild, except perhaps for Aroha.
"That's our goal for every patient that we see here. That if we're able to treat them to get them straight back into the wild so they can contribute to the wild populations."
Learn more:
- Find out more about Te Kōhanga here
