Willowbank Wildlife Reserve NZ

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

60 Hussey Road, Harewood Christchurch 8051, New Zealand

September 17, 2023

What an awesome adventure we had exploring this wildlife reserve in Christchurch. It was founded by the Willis Family over 40 years ago and remains in the family today. They have maintained 3 goals while in operation:

To be part of the conservation of species
To educate customers and advocate for wildlife
To provide entertainment to families and visitors

Willowbank is considered a themed wildlife park by allowing visitors to have an up close, interactive and natural environment in which to see New Zealand's native species of animals and birds.

Kiwi!

They are best known for their unique open, glass-free nocturnal house for observing and listening to NZ's kiwi snuffle about! It's so dark inside you have to allow your eyes several minutes to adjust. If you are lucky you will catch a glimpse of the free roaming kiwi. We definitely could hear them snuffling about way before we caught a glimpse of them. The temptation to reach down and pet one was great, but I resisted!

Longfin Eels!

The kiwi were our main goal to see, however, I got another equally fun and unique experience...feeding eels! The longfin eels are the largest freshwater eel in the world and only found in New Zealand! They can live for 100 years and way more than 20kg (44 pounds!)

You got a little cup of meat, walked down to the boardwalk where they had attached spoons and just began to feed them directly into their mouths! It was awesome. I was having so much fun I forgot to share with Chuck!

Galah!!

We had the BEST interaction with a sweet little galah cockatoo while we were visiting. These rose-breasted, grey birds can live for 40 years! It was clear to us that this sweetie must have been someone's pet at one time, she absolutely took a liking to Chuck and just wanted to snuggle with him. We spent a lot time with her and even went back before we left for an extra snuggle.