Sanctuary hires three new staff

The former Zion Wildlife Gardens in Kamo should reopen for summer. Photo / File

A head keeper is among three new staff hired by the revamped Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary as the park gears up for opening in summer.

Vanessa Rowe, former zoo keeper at Hamilton Zoo, will lead the charge in the sanctuary - formerly known as Zion Wildlife Gardens and run by Lionman Craig Busch.

She worked with mainly carnivores and primates in Hamilton and will be joined by two more keepers who have been hired by the sanctuary.

Educating zoo visitors about how to prevent animals from becoming extinct and syringe-feeding baby red panda triplets milk formula when their mother could not produce enough milk were among tasks Ms Rowe did in Hamilton.

Martin Weekes, a director of Bolton Equities that bought Zion Wildlife Gardens early last year, said Ms Rowe was an experienced and knowledgeable zoo keeper as were other new staff.

"We are really gearing up for the opening," he said.

Remedial work, he said, was progressing well and with fine weather he hoped for a summer opening.

If it opens when predicted the park will have been closed for more than a year since Bolton Equities bought the business in early 2014.

The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) first ordered the park closed to the public between July 1 and July 31, 2014, while the animal enclosures were upgraded to meet new standards.

MPI then extended the closure until August 31 but the upgrading has still not been completed.

Mr Weekes said most of the upgrades had been finished, except six new enclosures. There was slight delay in the construction of the new areas as the park management and the new keepers were taking another look at their designs.

The new enclosures are not requirements set by the MPI but are needed by the park for more space.

Once all the remedial work was completed and the park was ready to welcome visitors, the owners would be required to apply to MPI to resume public tours.

The ministry usually does inspections on the park - which has 34 big cats - every four to six weeks.