Kiwi North meets high standards of animal care

Kiwi North's Kevin Saxton, Annie Kiddie and Irene Hamlin from the husbandry team weigh Flash the tuatara. Photo/John Stone

Kiwi North's husbandry team has been recognised for the top conditions it provides for animals.

The team has been accredited by the Zoo and Aquarium Association, and received a "glowing" report of its practices.

Kiwi North director of operations Allie Fry said the accreditation and report were an indication of how hard the staff work and how passionate they were.

"I am very proud of our facility, the work we do here and, even more so, of the passionate husbandry team that care for the living native icons we hold, educating about and advocating for them to visitors everyday."

The Whangarei-based centre is home to two kiwi, one tuatara and 12 geckos and there are five members of staff who contribute to the husbandry team.

Zoo and Aquarium Association accreditation manager Nicolas de Graff spent half a day with the husbandry team in August last year, inspecting the facility, animals and speaking with staff.

Ms Fry said he was really thorough and quizzed staff on their practices.

The accreditation was issued in February and arrived in the mail in April and is valid for three years.

The report summary uses a traffic light-type system to score the facility in four categories - nutrition, physical, environment and behaviour. Each categories has sub-sections.

A blue mark means the practice contributes towards positive welfare outcomes for the animals, green is neutral and red is negative.

Kiwi North received predominantly blue scores and no red.

The nutrition category was entirely blue and Ms Fry said it was in part due to there being a nationally set diet for kiwi and Flash the tuatara getting his bugs dusted in calcium, "like icing sugar on a doughnut".

Ms Fry said as a charitable trust, resources were always a concern and having this report gave them integrity.

"We are constantly seeking funding in the form of grants and having this accreditation certainly supports those, validating the quality of the organisation they are considering funding."

She said the comment in the report which states "the enclosure can be recognised as an environment other organisations may wish to aspire to" is particularly gratifying.

The ZAA accreditation programme shifts the focus from making sure animals are not experiencing negative welfare states, to focusing on delivering positive welfare states.

ZAA president Kevin Tanner said the programme celebrated and validated animal welfare states.

"This means the wider community can be certain that ZAA member institutions provide the best level of care for their animals, not just a minimum standard."