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Orana Park, Again!

November 27, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We went to Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch twice in the past, but it has been a long time. We needed to go to Christchurch to pick my mom up at the airport, so Gayle and I decided to take our younger family (we have four older children and four younger, separated by four years) to the zoo. We spent about five hours walking around enjoying the animals. What makes Orana Park really stand out, though there aren’t very many animals compared to most zoos, is that we got to watch many of the animals being fed. We followed the schedule and saw every feeding for that day.

The meerkats were given eggs for this feeding.

Though the African porcupines normally sleep during the day, they came out eagerly for their dog biscuits!

Baby emus are cute!

When we arrived at the otter enclosure, they were standing up, begging in high-pitched squeaks and whistles for their fish!

All four children watching the ducks on one pond.

I’m not sure what type of birds these were, but they had a nest in the moat around the rhino enclosure.

Everyone’s favorite part of the zoo visit was feeding the giraffe! We were given olive branches, which we held up so the giraffe could strip off the leaves.

This is the baby giraffe–he’s about a year old.

They had fun feeding the turkey and chickens!

The lion feeding is always fun, too. This was the first day since Covid started that the truck was used to feed them. Only staff were on the truck for the trial run, but they plan to start selling tickets to the public again soon. Two of the three lions in the enclosure remembered this, but one didn’t seem to.

Tasmanian devil

We were very close to the rhinos while they ate their special treat: lucerne (alfalfa) hay.

I was talking to one of the zoo volunteers at the rhino enclosure, and happened to notice this nest right above his head. Not sure that was a good place to stand!

The children loved feeding the trout–and the ducks love the trout food! I tried to get a picture of the trout, but my battery ran out right there.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Christchurch, Orana Park, Zoo

Orana Park

April 10, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We have been going to Christchurch every six weeks or so for the past year and a half, for Mr. Inventor’s orthodontist appointments. Of course, these are always on weekdays, so I just take the children unless Gayle takes a day off work. The most recent one, however, was on a Saturday because the orthodontist was planning to take a few weeks off, so we made it a family trip. It happened to be Mr. Imagination’s 5th birthday, so we decided to celebrate by going to Orana Wildlife Park. What fun! It was a drizzly day, and chilly, so there weren’t as many people as usual, but the animals were more active for the most part, and we really enjoyed the day.

We enjoyed catching a glimpse of the American bison calf having a feed!

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It’s always fun to feed the giraffes.

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The birthday boy in front of a lion.

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People pay a lot for the privilege of riding in this truck while the lions are fed.

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We went back a second time to feed the giraffes.

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The male rhino had apparently been taking a mud bath.

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We got up close to the rhinos after their feeding, too. Little  Miss had fallen down the steps at church the Sunday before this, and hit her forehead on the concrete.

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By the time we left, she was tired of being there and wanted to drag her feet on the road when she was in the stroller!

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And here are a few photos Mr. Diligence took of the animals.

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Filed Under: Away From Home

Orana Park

October 6, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Friday we needed to pick up 100 day-old chicks in Christchurch, from a hatchery farther south.  Since it was a birthday in our family, we decided to make it a family day and go to the zoo on the outskirts of Christchurch, Orana Wildlife Park.  We had never gone, because it is very expensive, but decided to splurge this once.  It turns out to be a very fun zoo to visit!  It isn’t very big; nothing compared to some zoos we’ve been in in America as far as number of animals; but the experience was special.  They have feedings scheduled through the afternoon, and organized quite well so you go from one species to another, around the zoo.  For an extra $35 per person, we could have ridden in the truck from which they feed the lions!  We did get to feed the giraffes; that was free, and quite fun.  An older man, a volunteer, went around the route, and he seemed to really enjoy telling us more about the animals and the feeding.  One really good thing about this is how active the animals are, compared to most zoos.  For example, the lions–practically every zoo I’ve been to before, the lions just laid around, but here, they were running, and jumping.

I love otters!

The playground was a big hit. Would you like to be that close to lions?

Anyone who wanted to could feed the giraffes. We couldn’t get up close to the rhinos, because the male was charging even the keepers who were feeding them.

Checking out the next stop!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Orana Park, Zoo

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