Saving New Zealand's prehistoric wētā

How much do you know about our Wild Work? As a not-for-profit conservation organisation, Auckland Zoo is committed to safeguarding our beautiful planet, all of its remarkable species, and spectacular landscapes for generations to come. We bring you #WildWork Wednesday to show you some remarkable people, undertaking extraordinary work in NZ and abroad.

Do you know which of Aotearoa’s species outlived the dinosaurs? The weird and wonderful wētāpunga of course!

This ecologically significant invertebrate has been around for 190 million years, but like the majority of our other endemic species, have struggled due to introduced predators.

For one of our recent releases we invited Earthrise Al Jazeera to join ectotherm keeper Ben Goodwin to The Noises Islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, where they released more giant wētā onto this predator-free paradise.

Since wētāpunga first came to Auckland Zoo in 2012, our intensive breeding programme has bred and released over 4000 – that’s a lot of wētā!

You can find out more about wētāpunga and what we’re doing to help them in Te Papa and Weta Workshops interactive science and learning exhibition Bug Lab.