Jane Healy, Auckland Zoo
To wildlife around the motu -especially breeding birds at this time of year, animals in zoos like ours, and people’s pets, the loud noise and unpredictability of fireworks can be terrifying and have serious - even fatal, consequences.
It’s why our zookeepers, veterinary team, and all our concerned Zoo whānau are asking people to forego letting off fireworks this Guy Fawkes and for good – and instead attend planned, publicly organised time-limited displays.
“We’re in the height of bird breeding season, and fireworks being let off randomly day and night can cause terrified birds to abandon their nests, and sometimes fatally injure themselves, which we’re sure nobody wants to happen,” says the Auckland Zoo’s curator of birds, Dr Juan Cornejo.
“As well as kororā breeding along our coasts here in Tāmaki Makaurau – including near and under homes and baches, as our video shows they’re currently breeding here at the Zoo. We also have other threatened endemic manu like pāteke and tieke, and a number of non-native species, breeding.”
There is little even we at Auckland Zoo can do to protect the animals in our care, as it’s impossible to fully protect them from noise and flashes of fireworks exploding at unpredictable times day and night.
Ungulates team leader Micheal Hepher says species like giraffe and nyala are particularly sensitive to sudden bright lights and loud noises like fireworks in their environment.]
“Fireworks have the potential to put them on high alert and may cause them to injure themselves. It’s why every evening during Guy Fawkes week when there can be fireworks going off overnight nearby, we are forced to take the precaution of having them stay within their inside areas,” says Michael.
Animal Experiences curator Lizzy Perrett and team, who care for many different bird species, along with kangaroo (another sensitive species) is also asking for local community cooperation and understanding.
“Noise and the sudden flashing of fireworks is likely to trigger kangaroo’s flight-or-fight response. It’s the unpredictable and sporadic nature of fireworks set off by private individuals that mean we cannot always predict when the kangaroos will be most at risk.”
“To everyone in our local communities living in close proximity to the Zoo, we are asking, and would greatly appreciate, that you not let off fireworks at any time.”
Like our colleagues at Auckland Council, the NZ Veterinary Association and SPCA, Auckland Zoo has for years been calling on the Government to ban the public sale of fireworks for private use. This would not only protect all animals throughout Aotearoa, it would also keep people safe, protect our environment and eliminate the risk of fires and their associated impacts and costs.
This would not only protect all animals throughout Aotearoa, it would also keep people safe, protect our environment and eliminate the risk of fires, which are elevated during El Niño years, and their associated impacts and costs.
