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Meet Brooklands Zoo!

Situated in the heart of New Plymouth on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, Brooklands Zoo is a popular destination, attracting more than 135,700 visitors in 2023.

In 1965, the New Plymouth community gathered and fundraised to construct the first few animal habitats within Brooklands Zoo. Since then, the animal collection and its habitats have undergone many changes.

Brooklands Zoo is owned and operated by the New Plymouth District Council and has free entry for visitors.

It is a community-focused facility that holds daily keeper talks and runs school group bookings for talks, projects, and tours. They also accept several high schools, UNITEC, and university students for work experience placements.

Through regular family-focussed events such as Kaitiakitanga (Guardian of the Earth) Back to School Day, Brooklands Zoo educates families about pest control and how to make sustainable choices through games, puzzles, giveaways, and workshops. The zoo will also welcome city librarians to hold Storytime onsite in the coming weeks.

While Brooklands Zoo is a small facility, they care for a wide range of native and exotic species. In their commitment to conservation of wildlife, they have partnered with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and New Plymouth Vet Group to rehabilitate injured and orphaned native birds when needed. Recently they cared for several kererū before they were released back into the wild.

Last year Brooklands Zoo assisted DOC by rehabilitating two weka that were mysteriously found in Manaia, a tiny town about an hour south of the zoo. Weka had not been sighted in the North Island of New Zealand since the 1930s, and DNA confirmed that these flightless birds originated from the upper South Island. To read more about this mystery, click here.