Monthly Newsletter -March 2025

Events Programme April 2025

1st - Wanderers’ Walk - Lead - Tony Burrell.

Tony will lead a walk noting some of the historic trees in the Park and their background.

15th - Wanderers’ walk - The ornamental weeds.

Their presence and their level of pest in the Park. There are over 24,000 introduced plants growing in gardens and nurseries in New Zealand; a rough rule of thumb is that 10% of these will naturalise (establish in the wild), and 10% of these will become serious pests.

17th - Committee meeting

24th - Thursday evening meeting - speaker - Tony Burrell.

Aotea Great Barrier Island ‘Spectacular by Nature’ Garden Tour

Review of March's Events

March 4th - Wanderers' Walk - Lead, Sheryl Clyma.

One of the topics of Sheryl's walk was the effect of drought, which we are in at the moment. This was highlighted on Smith Walk where king ferns, Justicia floribunda and hydrangeas are looking particularly sad.

Another topic was the onset of autumn colour which is already evident on Japanese Hillside. Sheryl explained the reasoning behind the changes of colour and showed us a pamphlet (The Science behind Autumn’s Palette) which explains this action. Check out this interesting pamphlet in the link below.

https://www.sciencerevision.org/post/the-science-behind-autumn-s-palette

One of the issues at the Park is the security of the main lake dam. The dam has been seeping for a while and the Council has been forced to take steps to have its integrity evaluated. It is critical to know how the dam will hold up in the event of a major earthquake. The first step in this evaluation is to take core samples in and around the dam to assess what materials are present. This work started on March 24th and will take at least a couple of weeks to complete. Hopefully the results will determine that the dam is secure.

During the walk we also looked at begonias in Sunken Dell and around the Fred Parker Lawn. Sheryl also pointed out some proposed changes to the eastern boundary fence of the Fernery, which would give a bit more room for propagating.

Sue Matehaere Patten, President of the Friends of the Park made the group aware of a possible future project involving the Friends. The project will replace the existing tree labels. The current labels are too small and they don't allow for growth of the tree. In some case labels are starting to get distorted and envloped by the trees Bark.

March 18th - Wanderers' Walk - Lead, Jenaya Munro - Predator-Free Programme Coordinator

Although the weather was miserable there was a surprisingly large number of people turned up for the walk. Jenaya Munro (NPDC Predator-Free Programme Coordinator ) assisted by trapping volunteer Mark Henderson took us round the Park, to locations of some of the traps used to catch predators and showed us how they work. Three different types of traps are used: DOC200, rat traps and Goodnature A24 automatic traps.

Jenaya explained that there are currently 34 DOC200's, 16 rat traps and 70 Goodnature A24 automatic traps spread across the park roughly every 50-75 metres. DOC200's are the larger trap designed to humanely kill a stoat and weasel as well as rats. The rat traps are either a Victor or a T-Rex rat traps which are housed in narrow boxes to help guide the rodent into the firing line. The automatic A24 traps are working away in the background. They are powered by a gas canister that allows 24 strikes before it needs replacing, the lure pouches are good for 6 months.

DOC200 T-REX Victor

Below is a video explaining how the Goodnature A24 Automatic Trap works.

Volunteer Mark Henderson checks the parks DOC200's and rat traps on a fortnightly basis. Last year he recorded 104 kills (84 rats, 1 stoat, 1 hedgehog and 15 mice).

The traps are baited with peanut butter and the DOC200's with a fresh egg and salted rabbit meat to attract mustelids (stoats and weasels).

Jeneya explained that there are there are two types of rats caught in Taranaki, Ship rats and Norway rats. The Ship rat - great climbers, has a tail longer than its body and a pointed snout. The Norway rat - the larger of the two, great swimmers, stocky body with a blunt snout.

Jenaya also shared some trapping tips:

always use gloves to keep your human scent off the trap and bait.
after baiting your trap, don't discard your peanut butter stick, instead you can place it in the ground in front of the trap entrance as an additional lure.
scuff and clear the entrance and back of your trap to keep it clear of branches and leaves. Scuffed ground also makes the trap more interesting for passing pests.
if you have a rat you're struggling to catch, try baiting an unset trap for a week, allowing the rat to feed for free and get comfortable with the trap. After a week you set the trap and take the rodent by surprise.
If anyone is keen to get involved and join the volunteering programme, you can email Jenaya at jenaya.munro@npdc.govt.nz.

Many thanks to Jenaya and Mark for a really interesting walk.

From the Zoo

When is a closed zoo not a closed zoo? By Brooklands Zoo Keeper Jenny Bucksmith

Every summer Brooklands Zoo closes its doors to the public for a few days either side of any big event occurring in the Bowl of Brooklands, in order to comply with health and safety regulations. The biggest downtime is the period around WOMAD. This year, with Te Matatini scheduled just prior to WOMAD, we are closed for a longer period than usual. However, just because the zoo itself is quiet, behind those locked gates the zookeepers are just as busy as ever.

There is never a day in the year in which staff are not on-site with our animals – even Christmas Day! During closed periods we process all our usual daily tasks, such as feeding the animals, cleaning habitats, animal training, preparing food, doing dishes and processing the administration to reschedule deliveries during concerts/festivals that goes along with everything else. However, the absence of visitors gives us great opportunities to tackle larger jobs that can be more difficult to do with people out and about. Pressure-washing our habitats is one of the first things we try to do (as per water restrictions) and it’s not uncommon for multiple habitats to be extra thoroughly cleaned over a week. Public areas such as the gazebos and picnic tables also get a good clean and it’s amazing how bright and shiny everything looks after a good waterblast!

Maintenance tasks such as replacing fence posts, weeding around fence lines, painting animal houses and dens or planting habitats with new foliage are all jobs we can work together as a team and process. Sometimes an entire habitat might get a huge overhaul. The inhabitants are moved off-display if possible, allowing keepers to dig out old mulch substrates and replace with new, trim trees, replace and/or rearrange furniture and other items within the habitat, scrub structures, and make the area look inviting for the animals when they return. This is always a satisfying job and keepers, animals and visitors alike can enjoy the difference.

So next time the zoo is shut to the public, just remember, it’s still a hive of activity behind those closed doors.