Kākāriki

At Lochmara, we breed Yellow and Red Crowned Kākāriki for educational purposes and to ensure their survival for future generations. These parakeets can can grow up to 25cm and have faced significant challenges due to habitat loss and predation by stoats and ship rats.

Breeding typically occurs in spring, influenced by the food supply, with females incubating the eggs and both parents feeding the chicks. Their diet consists mainly of beech seed, flower buds, fruit, and small insects. Although they primarily gather food in trees, foraging on the ground increases their vulnerability to predators.

In partnership with the Department of Conservation, we breed the Marlborough Green Gecko for release onto predator-free islands in the Marlborough Sounds. We also display various other species for educational purposes, aiming to ensure their survival for future generations.

New Zealand is home to about 17 discovered species of gecko, inhabiting mountains, forests, and beaches. They eat a variety of insects, such as moths and beetles, and supplement their diet with nectar, small berries, and other fruits. Notably, New Zealand Geckos are unique as they give birth to live young, typically in early autumn, often birthing twins. Upon birth, the young geckos are immediately independent.

Blue penguins are found throughout the cool temperate coastal waters of New Zealand and southern Australia. They are also the smallest penguins in the world. Their numbers have been greatly reduced due to predators like cats, stoats, and dogs.

However conservation work and education has dramatically helped the survival rates. At Lochmara we educate people about the wonderful bird life we have in New Zealand, and how we can make sure we still have these amazing birds for the next generation to enjoy.

At Lochmara, our mission is to boost the dwindling Weka population in Lochmara Bay, which has suffered due to dog predation. The Weka is a large, flightless bird with brown and black plumage, a stout bill, reduced wings, and strong legs. They inhabit diverse environments, including open country with scrub, forest margins, sand dunes, and rocky shores.

Wekas build substantial nests hidden in vegetation, lined with hair or feathers. Primarily scavengers, they are most active at dusk, turning over leaf litter to find insects, fallen berries, seeds, lizards, and small rodents. Our goal is to increase their numbers so the call of these amazing birds can be heard once again.

Inspiring admiration and fear rather than affection, Weta are never the less one of New Zealand's most fascinating and significant animals. Primarily vegetarian and nocturnal, Weta belong to the same order as crickets and grasshoppers. In the absence of efficient predators such as rats and cats, Weta evolved to become large and flightless, occupying roles that elsewhere in the world had been claimed by rodents.

Weta have evolved into about 100 species, divided into five groups. Giant, tree, ground, tusked and cave. Most can be found throughout the country. At Lochmara you can find tree, cave and ground Weta, but you must look hard and in the right places. We provide nesting boxes for the tree Weta, the mighty Pūtangatanga.