OUR ANIMALS

Barbary Lions

Our small pride at Pouakai Zoo consists of our Lion ASLAN, and two Lionesses LEA and ASHA.
Aslan and Asha were born on 27th October 2005, and their older sister Lea was born 20th October 2004. Lea also has a twin sister Luca who lives at Paradise Valley Springs in Rotorua.

Aslan and Asha were specially bred for Pouakai Zoo by the wonderful team at Paradise Valley Springs. We are very grateful for their generosity, and for allowing us to have Lea come and live with us too.

All our Lions are Barbary Lions, which originate from Northern Africa. Sadly there are no longer any Barbary Lions left in the wild, so we are very lucky to have them here. The most distinguishing feature of the Barbary Lion is the impressive lush mane which extends down the chest and underneath the belly.
We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

White Royal Bengal Tigers

We are very pleased to announce we now have 3 White Royal Bengal Tigers on display at the Zoo. Kala , Anila and Azra are kindly on loan from Zion Wildlife Gardens in Whangarei. The 3 girls are 3 years old and have settled in so well. They all love to splash about in thier pool, climb over logs onto there veiwing platform.

Meerkat

We have a Meerkat here at Pouakai Zoo, he is approximately 8 years of age.
The word ‘Meerkat’ is from the Afrikaans, a language derived from the Dutch. An English translation of the word ‘Meerkat’ is “Marsh Cat”
or “Lake Cat”, even though these fuzzy little mammals don’t actually live near lakes or marshes and nor are they cats.
They come from the ‘mongoose’ family.

Meerkats are busy little creatures and like to forage, climb and always investigating their territory. They also like to take time out
for a spot of sunbathing. Their diet consists of fresh fruit and vegetables along with raw meat, meal worms and as a treat they get an egg.

Spider Monkeys

We have a lovely family of 4 Spider Monkeys at Pouakai Zoo. These monkeys are the “show offs”! Their swinging abilities will keep you
entertained for quite some time.  Their long lanky arms and super strong tails are the tools of their swinging trade.
A very close family unit means they love each others company and often all sit cuddled together.
They enjoy watching you as much as you will enjoy watching them!
Spider Monkeys come from the tropical rain forests of Central and South America.
Spider Monkeys can live up to 22 years in the wild and of course much longer in captivity.
Females will only give birth to one baby every 2 to 5 years, this is so they can fully protect their young until the young Spider Monkey is ready to look after itself.
One last note…Spider Monkeys have no thumbs!