Te Anau Wildlife Centre

Introduction

Fiordland is home to a wonderful variety of native birds, whose habitat ranges from the rugged mountain and forest environments to the wild west coast seashore.

The Te Anau Wildlife Centre is the ideal setting to learn about some of Fiordland’s wildlife. The centre offers the opportunity to view the rare flightless takahē, now restricted to the tussock grasslands of the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland. Native waterfowl, weka, parakeets, tui, kea, kākā and pigeons are all part of the setting.

Features

Parrot aviary, Te Anau Wildlife Centre

The centre is open from dawn to dusk and can cater for guided tours by booking with the Department of Conservation. School groups are free of charge.

Aviary birds

The centre’s main aviary houses a number of native birds. The native pigeon, tūī, kea and kākā or bush parrot can be seen here. Another aviary houses native parakeets.

Waterfowl enclosure

Location of Te Anau visitor centre, wildlife centre
and Ivon Wilson Park

Close by the takahē enclosure is the waterfowl enclosure. Here you can see mallard and Canada geese, both of which are not native birds. Introduced mallards are the most widespread and common duck in New Zealand and, as a consequence, our main game bird. The female mallard is often confused with the female grey duck, which is a native species.

Ivon Wilson park

Across the road is the attractively landscaped Ivon Wilson Park, managed by the Southland District Council. Lake Henry, within the park, has a stock of brook trout and has been developed as a children's fishery. A licence, available from any sports store or the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre, is needed to fish the lake.