Central Energy Trust

Wildbase RecoveryOperational Progress Update

Key

Achievements

• The facility is now operating 6 days a week for visitor interactions and 7 days for animal care

• The education programme is running Monday to Friday

• Public access is Wednesday to Saturday

• The facility is operating as it was envisioned with 34 patients being rehabilitated over the past 3 months

Facility operational status

• The education programme has been accessed by 1500 students

• We have had over 34,000 total visitors to the Centre

• Peak days include the Explore Victoria Esplanade Day where over 5,000 people attended throughout the day

• Easter holidays saw an average of 180 people per hour through the Centre

Public Engagement Highlights

• While the majority has been general public we have also accommodated a number of community groups such as rest homes, disability networking group and many others

• These groups have informed other operational requirements/modifications

Groups

Key

Achievements

• Feedback from the students and teachers has been fantastic

• Fully booked term 2

• A demand for an ECE programme was identified

• Developed ECE programme based on workshops with ECE teachers to meet their needs

• Junior Wildbase Conservationists programme has been started to engage youth outside of the school programme

Education Programme

• The website is fully operational and is in the testing phase

• Once testing is completed we will begin phase two with the addition of a full Te Reo Māori toggle capability

Website

• Both Te Reo and English brochures have been developed and are in circulation

• Both versions have shown a high demand

Brochure

Opening approach – Phased opening

Booking process

• To deal with initial high demand

• To help our visitor hosts find their feet

• To give high quality experience to inform the public about our purpose

Limited hours to allow completion of further

enhancements

• Involved reducing education programme days

• Education programme is now running Monday –Friday

• This enabled an informed approach to help develop the programme for term two

• Identified the need for other programmes

Public access

• No longer need bookings

• Various days allow for different experiences

• Wednesday – Friday 1:00pm – 4:00pm suit older groups where crowds may not be suitable

• Saturday 10:00am –4:00pm is perfect for families to come through

Public Engagement

Over 34,000 people

through the Centre as at

11/05/2019

Explore Esplanade Day saw

over 5000 visitors through

in a limited capacity – the

feedback about this was

extremely positive

Public

Feedback

“Great place to learn, explore and a

nice way to take care of the birds”

“A great place. Lovely to see our

native birds and interactive learning

for the children that they enjoyed”

“A wonderful place, thank you for all of

your hard work”

“A beautiful place, great to see the

Māori language implemented”

“Amazing that Palmerston North has

this to offer”

Visitor Host

and

Programmes

Feedback

“The guides were very knowledgeable and friendly, and we look forward to seeing you again when we return on our annual visit to Palmy next year - by which time you'll be fully operational! “

“We were both impressed by the facilities, the information and especially by the volunteers. They were all so enthusiastic when speaking about the facility, the' patients' and the conservation work of Wildbase. Please thank them all.”

“The layout is beautiful and amenities world-class. We were very amused by the antics of the kaka and were delighted with the story of their developments since moving into the free-flight aviary, having lived so long in the dreadful concrete cages by the paddling pool.”

“I hope that you will consider doing this again for our science trip next year as both the staff and students were raving about the wonderful sights and knowledge they learnt from your visit. “

Education Programme Breakdown

Education Booking Type

(15/1/2019 to 10/5/2019)

# of bookings #

Students

Primary School 11 755

Early Childhood 7 129

Enviro Group 1 20

Secondary School 1 300

Home Educators 2 33

Scout 1 25

English Learning 3 108

Holiday Programme 5 160

Totals 31 1530

Education Programme Bookings

Primary School Early Childhood Enviro Group

Secondary School Home Educators Scout

Animal Care

Operations

Status Number

Released 25

Current Patients 6

Euthanised 3

Total 34

Some of our

patients

Kārearea (NZ falcon)

5,000 – 8,000

The population is recovering

This patient was successfully

released

Public came specifically to see

this patient

Some of our patients

Kororā (little blue

penguin)

Succuessfully

rehablitated

Sent to Auckland Zoo to

be a part of their captive

breed for release

programme

She was the superstar of

the centre and kids still

come in asking about her

Some of our patients

Kōtare / Kingfisher

We have seen a

number of this species

through the centre

All have been

successfully released

with one current

patient due for release

very soon

Some of our patients

Kāhu / Harrier Hawk

Suffered multiple fractures

Stay at the centre was approximately 3

weeks to regain muscle mass

Successfully released

We have seen a number of this species in

the Centre

Even though they are common, engagement

with them has been high as it is not often

you can see them ‘up close’

Some of our

patients

Kererū

This species has made up the

majority of our patients

Primarily keel and sternum

fractures

One even flew inside the Centre

which was in need of

treatment! It must have known

we were open for business

Captive Breed for Release Programme

Pāteke (brown teal)

Only around 2500 left

This season the pair produced 6

successfully fledged chicks

These have been sent to The Issac

Conservation and Wildlife Trust

hardening facility

We have increased our breeding

programme to 3 pairs of pāteke,

utilising the existing Victoria

Esplanade aviaries

Captive Breed for Release Programme

Whio / Blue duck

Very happy in their

new enclosure

Still working out what

they are meant to be

doing…

We are hoping for big

results in the coming

breeding season

This is all credit

to your help and

support!

We would like to take this chance to thank our

wonderful sponsors and supporters for

continuing to enable the vitally important mahi

of our world class facility.