Zookeeper setting out to save New Zealand's native species

Sunday, 7 January 2018

Orana Wildlife Park native fauna and domestic animal manager Alyssa Salton on what it takes to be a zookeeper.

All kea have distinct personalities, and 3-year-old Tiki only likes to bounce with Alyssa Salton.

That's partly because Salton, native fauna and domestic animal manager at Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park, was there when he hatched.

'He'll come over and hold on to my finger, but he actually holds on really gently, then he likes being bounced … and he'll only ever do it to me,' she said.

Alyssa Salton throws a few feed worms to a pair of South Island whio, a rare native breed. The pair had produced 14 ducklings last year, soon due to be released into the wild.

Salton has been at the park 14 years and, with her team of nine, has worked at strengthening the population of many of New Zealand's native animals – taking care of about 45 different species at the park.

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Tiki, a 3-year-old kea at Orana Wildlife Park, shortly after waking from an afternoon siesta.

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Salton, Orana Wildlife Park's native fauna and domestic animal manager, said she wanted people 'get as enthused as I am, and want to save [native animals] as much as I do.'

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That has included breed-for-release programmes for birds like the South Island whio, or blue duck – the real star of the New Zealand $10 note and believed to be an ancient species of waterfowl. It is estimated there are only about 700 pairs left on the mainland.

The romantic liaison between a pair at the park last year produced 14 ducklings, to be released this month – nearly half the entire conservation effort across all holders of the bird.

'They're such beautiful birds and, for us as a team and as a park, being able to raise them up to release into the wild is one of the best things of this job, that I absolutely love,' Salton said.

Orana Wildlife Trust spokesman Nathan Hawke said Salton and her team played an important part in advocating for the park's 'underdogs'.

For Salton, working towards improving the fate of some of New Zealand's endangered species was 'a reason to come to work every day'.

'All of the [exotic] animals, they're amazing, they're beautiful and they're awesome, but I really want people to come and talk to the keepers, interact with our native wildlife,' she said.

'Just because it's small doesn't mean it's not cool and they're just so awesome, they're beautiful and they have such personalities.'

The park recently took in a pair of orange-fronted parakeet which had 'settled in well'.

The ambition was to breed for release with the pair – a vital effort for the rarest New Zealand native parakeet, with between 100 and 300 remaining in the wild.

Salton said she had 'spent my entire life' trying to help animals – from mucking around her hometown of Oxford, North Canterbury, to when she first began volunteering at the park.

'I really want people to come and meet [the animals] and get as enthused as I am, and want to save them as much as I do.'