Wildlife Foxton Trust School Holiday Hours

At Wildlife Foxton Trust we have the vision of 'Education by Example'. To learn about some of our forgotten fauna (animals) of skinks, gecko, fish, and invertebrates we provide up close experiences of some of our more common New Zealand gecko's, native fish, and some invertebrates on display. These animals aren’t as well known as the cheeky kea or the ancient Tuatara- but they are every bit as fascinating.

To also support this learning, we provide hands-on opportunities with exotic lizards so children can understand the impact that introduced species have on our native fauna and their habitats.
We have continued to increase our native species - now 11 with our latest edition being a pair of Pacific Gecko – Dactylocnemis pacificus.
Babies are starting to arrive from our breeding pairs – the first being last week with a baby Duvaucel making its appearance.

Visitors can get to see over 40 native gecko provided it is not too hot or cold – but take a bit of hunting in their habitats with some amazing camouflage.
The Forest Gecko can subtly change their skin shade to blend in with the tree branches and others, like the Northland Green Gecko, are almost impossible to see when camouflaged on a leaf. The baby Duvaucel's Gecko is so good at hiding that even the volunteers need to search for them. But Nell the cockatoo doesn’t need to be found- one look at the food, and she will fly to you whereas our other cockatoo Lucy will yell loudly at you if she decides she is not in mood for visitors!

Currently our native fish have moved to our new aquaria extension, but we haven’t had time to complete the wrap around deck, making it a no-go area for visitors.
A visit lasts between 30-40 minutes with roving educators working throughout the centre to answer questions, and upon requests can get out exotic lizards for closer hands-on experiences. Last Entry Is 45 Minutes Prior to Closure.

Our native plant nursery has a good range of plants for both residential and lifestyle block plantings at a very reasonable price of $8.00 each or 10 plants for $70.00. Eftpos available and we can provide GST receipts.