Chapter 5: In Which Moose Learns About Native Wildlife

Zealandia

Moose thought this name evoked a certain sense of awe and inspiration towards the country of New Zealand, though he also though it sounded just a little silly and overly pretentious. He visited this magical place with Aunt KC and Renee on a nice day where they were able to take full advantage of the area. Zealandia is the fancy (and marketable) name for what is essentially a wildlife reserve near Wellington (in Karori). When people came and settled in New Zealand there was (of course) a change in the ecosystem of the island(s). In standard human fashion little to no thought was given to the effects until things started dying off with no hopes of returning. Moose knew that if HE were in charge and moose ruled the world this would not be such a problem since they are only caring and loving creatures. Many of the animals (primarily birds) that existed in New Zealand before settlers had such a lack of land predators that many of them ended up being kinda lazy in the "defenses against being killed and eaten" department. So when settlers brought themselves and some more aggressive animals a lot of the native wildlife became extinct. At least, this is the vision that has evolved from the information that is still around for the world to extrapolate from. In the 1990s there was a guy who decided that this was too sad and so he wanted to create a place where the native wildlife (and eventually plants too) could be "safe" from the foreign predators thus ZELANDIA was born!

As much as Moose found this a bit cheesy and silly the park itself was quite interesting, full of information and new bird friends. The first place they visited was a somewhat small museum discussing the history of New Zealand; small but FILED with information it was almost overwhelming. There were several taxidermy animals and some artistic representations of animals that are no longer living (Moose found this a little morbid and animalist - no one stuffs humans!). Moose did learn some things about many of the animals though, so it was not a lost experience. After getting a little information overload they all headed out to the park itself.
The park is one square mile and the whole thing has a perimeter of a fence that is both mice and rabbit proof. Learning about the fence (and seeing it) was one of the most interesting things for Moose in the museum, he was sure he could have just plowed through it with a few of his buddies but there are not other moose here for him to try. Although all birds (and other flying things) can enter at will most of them "play nice" or at least don't completely ruin everyone's day. The vast quantity of bird life that could be heard (and sometimes seen but leaves got in the way much of the time) was incredible. Moose actually wished that this antlers were ears so he could hear more!

Moose also encountered a Weta which he thought looked delicious though Renee was freaked out (she says bugs are gross and creepy when they move).

Moose also met a Tuatara which are pretty cool creatures, they can live to be pretty old and are excellent at hide and seek as long as they are not they aren't the seekers since they are mostly slow. Luckily someone else had spotted this one and pointed (him? her?) out.

Moose also had a close encounter with a new bird friend whom has been named Huey.

Stalking Makes Friends!

Shunned.

The Face Off

The ultimate goal is for the sanctuary to become a view of what New Zealand looked like when settlers first arrived about 1,000 years ago. Moose hopes he is around to be able to see that happen :P
XP: Size of park in hectares plus length of walking trails in kilometers: 225 + 32 = 257

Is Moose wildlife?!?