New Asia Precinct opens at Wellington Zoo this weekend

27 September 2012

New Asia Precinct opens at Wellington Zoo this weekend

This Saturday and Sunday, Wellington Zoo is excited to welcome visitors to explore the new Asia Precinct for the first time. This beautiful precinct is the latest project in the ten year redevelopment of Wellington Zoo.

The Asia Precinct includes the brand new ASB Malayan Sun Bear exhibit, home to Sean and Sasa, as well as the redeveloped Pub Charity Sumatran Tiger exhibit, home to Cantik and Rokan.

Last Friday, special guests were treated to a sneak preview, when the new precinct was officially opened by Wellington Mayor Her Worship Celia Wade-Brown, on behalf of Wellington City Council, the principal funder of Wellington Zoo.

"The Asia Precinct is a terrific opportunity to encourage interest in endangered species, their importance to global biodiversity and the effect of our everyday choices.

"The Zoo is important in terms of our city's biodiversity - it's our window on the world and part of our connection to the planet," said Wade-Brown.

The Mayor was joined at the official opening by special guests from ASB and Pub Charity, the major supporters of the precinct, and Matt Hunt, Chief Executive of Free the Bears, Asia.

"ASB is delighted to celebrate the opening of the new ASB Malayan Sun Bears exhibit,” said Linley Wood, ASB Executive General Manager, Culture and Community. “Our families will now have the opportunity to experience these intriguing animals in an environment dedicated to education, conservation and, of course, fun. Working in partnership with Wellington Zoo provides the community with the chance to get up close and personal with rare and exciting wildlife.”

“We have a great interest in wild life preservation and wellbeing and applaud the efforts of everyone striving to assist conservation. The importance of getting the message across and informing people of the needs is both very necessary and very important,” said Maurice Hayes, Chairman of Pub Charity.

“Pub Charity’s support towards the Asia Precinct, particularly to redevelop the Sumatran Tiger exhibit has indeed assisted in a wonderful result. The exhibit with the dedicated roaming space, training areas, boardwalk and all facilities certainly enables visitors to get up close with an excellent view of these magnificent animals.”

“We are hugely grateful for the support of Wellington City Council, Pub Charity and ASB in creating these beautiful new homes for our Sun Bears and Tigers” said Karen Fifield, Chief Executive of Wellington Zoo.

“We see the Asia Precinct as part of Wellington Zoo’s contribution towards Wellington 2040, where we can demonstrate environmental leadership by providing a new home for these wonderful animals. Having Matt from Free the Bears to help us open the new precinct was especially poignant; Sean was one of the first Sun Bears rescued by Free the Bears in Asia, and is a great ambassador to connect our visitors with the important conservation work we support.”

“We’re also excited to have visitors get closer than ever to the Sumatran Tigers,” shared Ms Fifield. “These critically endangered animals help to raise awareness of their wild relatives, who we support through 21st Century Tiger, a conservation organisation which contributes directly to wild tiger projects.”

The Asia Precinct opens to visitors for the first time from 9.30am this Saturday with celebrations and activities running all weekend – including face painting, arts and crafts, performers, special Asian food, giveaways and more.

Thanks to the support of ASB, visiting the Zoo will be even easier all school holidays with the wild ASB Free Zoo Bus running every day – more details and a timetable are available here: www.wellingtonzoo.com/asiaprecinct

Wellington Zoo is a charitable trust principally funded by the Wellington City Council.

ENDS

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