Orana Wildlife Park is New Zealand’s only open range zoo and with over 350 animals to see, it’s the perfect place for a visit when in Christchurch. We had the good fortune to visit on a lovely, sunny day and the visit was a real highlight for our kids.
I’m liking
We started out visit to Orana by taking the shuttle, which does a circuit around the whole park. It takes about 20 minutes to get around the park and while you can get off and on at the various stops, I’d recommend going right around so that you get a sense of the park. Although the trip takes about 20 mins, the park is, in fact, fairly compact and you can easily walk from animal to animal.
The highlight for my 5 year old (by miles) was feeding the giraffes. Visitors are given branches and the fabulously obliging giraffes come close enough that you can stroke them. There aren’t many places where you can get so close to such gorgeous animals and it’s something that my daughter is still talking about. My husband thought the Rhinos were fantastic – he was amazed to see them so close up!
The park has a schedule of animal feeds throughout the day and you can plan your trip around these. You can even get the ‘Lion Encounter’ (which is an additional $35 per person) and get up close to the lions while they are being fed!
There are lots of places to sit and relax and my kids enjoyed playing on the play equipment. Sadly, Orana’s flying fox was destroyed in a storm last year; however, the park is currently redeveloping their play area and it will be exciting to see what develops there.
The conclusion
Sadly, we only had a half day to spend at Orana Wildlife Park but you could easily spend the whole day there. Take a picnic and make a family day out! The animals are fabulously kept and the friendly park staff are really knowledgeable. It’s the perfect spot for a family adventure!
