Tuesday April 12th Zealandia

Last night, as a study abroad group, we went to one of New Zealand's sanctuaries called Zealandia. This place was built in order to bring back New Zealand's primitive bush and wildlife. When we first pulled up to the gates it reminded me of Jurassic Park. The fencing system is very detailed and intense in order to keep predators out of the park that would possibly kill the fragile life within the gates. Our tour guide told us that every week they walk around the outside to make sure that unwanted pests are not getting through the gates..over or under. Before we entered the park we had to check through our bags to make sure we had no unexpected passengers like cats or rats. I guess some animals will stop at anything to get into this park!

 Before we started our night walk we went through an information building that talked about the different wildlife we will see. The big screen to the left showed us a quick video about what New Zealand looked like before human's came and what animals were brought over when human's decided to inhabit it.

 Again the huge Moa bird is shown. The Moa roamed Zealandia until the Maori came from the Polynesia and used them as a food source.

 Trying to get as many pictures before it got dark and we could no longer use our flash on our cameras.

 The white specks siting on the rock on the right were some crane like birds that are black and white.

 This bird is the Takahe bird. (behind the white post in the middle) These birds are extremely endangered and on the brink of extinction. This sanctuary has two (male and female) that the are trying to breed. The picture below shows what they look like up close. I am guessing their colors make them easy to spot and easy to hunt as well. The birds can become as large as Turkeys so they probably can't hide easily either.

The rest of the night we spent walking the park with our red flashlights that do not scare the nocturnal life away. It was fascinating to listen to the Kiwi calls at night and we even spotted a couple of them in the trees. When we turned our lights off we could see glow worms on the rocks and trees guiding our way. Since their is a damn in the middle of the sanctuary we were able to get above the trees and see the stars and the river which were absolutely gorgeous.