te anau wildlife park

The wildlife park has takahes--a very rare rail (a type of bird) found only in New Zealand. The wildlife park is very small, but is worth a visit just to see these amazing birds. It is free, but please help their conservation efforts by making a donation.

Great job with the Takahe feeding and the ranger talk is very good, really nice to meet someone who works with the birds and is a "local". I would suggest though that the rest of the park needs an upgrade or removal as it doesn`t do the animals within it justice and confuses the consevration messages. Limited funds of course but maybe quality and not quantity is the best outcome here. Had a good time the kids loved the takahe and the Ranger talk was very very good.

Read my hotel review,it's there. If you are a birdie fan you will looooooove this park ! No more to say so to fill the word quota ... rabbit, rabbitt

Great to see the work being done to rehabilitate injured wildlife. Although not a lot of birds it is a pleasant walk around the area. Children would love being able to feed grass to the geeses.

A chance to see an endangered bird - the takahe - brought us here. And we were lucky. Informative boards around and views of kea and kaka enhanced the lovely walk we had taken around the edge of the lake.

We thought it would be a few minutes watching someone feed the birds - but we had a hour with the ranger telling us about the birds and being able to go into the cages. Excellent. Cost is 'gold coin' donation. A great surprise - especially the Takahe.

This is a sweet little park, an interesting stop if you are walking the lake shore at Te Anau but also accessible by car. It asks for donations so can be "free" but we like to contribute something to the DOC's important and Herculean task of trying to protect these endangered birds. The highlight is seeing the takahe up close and, if you turn up at feeding time (advertised locally) you can enter the enclosure, see them up close and find out a bit more about them. There are also the kea and various other native birds so it's a good chance to see them in the flesh (or feathers, I suppose).

Enjoyed my first visit ,very freindly staff, highlight was getting up close to the Takahē..Got some great photos will retunr next trip to Te Anau

This is a very nice, pretty, well-landscaped area along the lake shore, just past the DOC visitor center. It can be accessed either by walking path, or car. It was exciting to see the endangered Takahe (a blue, kiwi-sized flightless bird with a large red bill), which was once thought extinct, until it was rediscovered in the nearby Murchison Mountains! Even thought it was in a man-made enclosure, it was a treat to be able to see this such a specimen that would probably never be seen in the wild by the average person. Other birds included the Kea and Kaka and Tui.

Good for a little walk but really, there is not a lot to see except for a few birds. 30 minutes MAX would do it,

lovely setting and very good guide, turn up at feeding time.Makes you realise how endangered some species are, and what we can do to help

How cool! I loved being able to see the fascinating Takahe up close. While I liked seeing the other birds, this was a real highlight. The fact that this park only asks for a donation is crazy as it is worth paying more for. It is well maintained and a lovely walk around.

Well worth visiting at feeding time to find out more about the fascinating birds they have here. The takahe is especially interesting as they were thought to be extinct and there are still very few in existence.

Great opportunity to see endangered species like the Takahe, as well as the Kea, the alpine parrot. The park is free, very pleasant to walk around. It could use a water fountain for thirsty hikers returning from the walk at the shore of Lake Te Anau.

Well, I think it is exciting as I am a bird watcher. NZ wildlife has been decimated by introduced pests and many birds are rare or extinct. The Takahe is very rare and there were 5 or 6 of them in a large enclosure. They were active and we were able to take some good photos. The other birds, especially the clever Kaka parrots playing with their toys were great to see too. The is no entry fee but visitors are asked to give a dollar or so donation to assist the wildlife service's conservation projects. It is set in nice gardens to stroll around.I liked the birds so much that I went there twice.