For over 46 years, Orana Wildlife Trust (a registered charity) has operated Orana Wildlife Park, an internationally recognised zoo and Canterbury icon attraction. The Trust operates in a commercially astute manner to: provide quality recreational experiences for local people and visitors to Canterbury; conserve endangered native and exotic wildlife; educate all visitors (especially children) about environmental and conservation issues; and support research. Set in 185 hectares, Orana Wildlife Park is Aotearoa’s only open range wildlife park. We care for over 1,000 animals representing 90 different species, many of which are critically endangered. Orana is a conservation powerhouse making significant contributions to recovery programmes for Aotearoa’s threatened species (e.g. kākāriki karaka, Aotearoa’s rarest parakeet). We connect visitors with wildlife and inspire people to care about the plight of endangered species. Orana specialises in providing amazing visitor experiences, including the fantastic Lion Encounter (the only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere), meeting NZ’s only gorillas, encountering mischievous kea, observing kiwi, hand feeding majestic giraffe, eyeballing the magnificent white rhino and much more. The Park is a key regional asset contributing to economic recovery and growth and an important facility for community well-being. As a registered charity, Orana relies on gate-takings to operate. We separately raise 100% of funds for all developments, animal transfers and involvement in key conservation programmes.
