Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery volunteer Barbara Arnold (left) and education and programmes officer Brittany Adams look forward to welcoming more volunteers. Photo / Judith Lacy
Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery volunteer Barbara Arnold (left) and education and programmes officer Brittany Adams look forward to welcoming more volunteers. Photo / Judith Lacy
Big Boy knows summer is coming, as his favourite rock is warming up.
The 38-year-old tuatara is gearing up for the summer influx of visitors to Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery and the longer opening hours.
To help him greet and guide visitors, he and his staff are seeking more volunteers.
Wildbase Recovery manager Chris Smith says it is a fun place to volunteer. Volunteers have the opportunity to get up close to the permanent and recuperating native wildlife and learn about them.
There’s a really cool crowd of staff and existing volunteers, some of whom have been at the centre since it opened five years ago at Victoria Esplanade in Palmerston North.
Wildbase has a small paid front-of-house team, and the volunteer programme is another way for the public to be involved in Wildbase, Smith said. Entry is free.
Former science teacher Barbara Arnold has been a Wildbase volunteer for more than four years.
She enjoys the company of staff and fellow volunteers and talking to the birds and watching what they are up to.
Arnold says she can get whiplash watching the birds, as they can round the aviary in three seconds.
The biggest part of her role is pointing out where the residents are - the pāteke [brown teal] are particularly good at hiding in plain sight.
“There’s always interesting things to see, and there’s lots of visitors that come.”
Some have the most amazing backgrounds and have come from as far away as Europe, North America and South America.
“They have even come from Wellington or, more strangely, Auckland,” she says, slightly tongue-in-cheek.
A lot of people get excited as they have never seen a tuatara before.
Support officer Bex Ingram says volunteers don’t need to know about wildlife as they will be taught. They need to commit to two-hour shifts, ideally once a week over summer.
Big Boy the tuatara spends most of the cooler days inside his insulated tunnels and burrow, occasionally coming out to sunbathe. Photo / Judith Lacy
Wildbase Recovery provides shelter and care for native wildlife recovering after treatment at Massey University’s Wildbase Hospital.
It also has resident who [blue duck], kererū, korimako and kākā guaranteeing wildlife for visitors to view.
From December 16 to February 3, it will be open from 10am-4pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, but closed on public holidays.
