Aja Pendergrast, Auckland Zoo
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and if you’re stuck on gift ideas for your loved ones – look no further!
We have hundreds of unique and special items at our WildZone gift shop just waiting to be gifted to your friends and whānau. The best part is, a portion of every purchase goes towards our conservation Wild Work in Aotearoa and overseas.
1) Give the gift that keeps on giving with a Friends of the Zoo annual pass! We’ve recently reduced the price of our annual passes and now from as little as $19 a month, a family of four can enjoy unlimited entry to Auckland Zoo, 364 days a year. The perfect gift for families, friends, children or anyone who loves wildlife and wild places, a portion of every annual pass sold goes to our Conservation Fund to help support our work to preserve wildlife in Aotearoa and around the world. The best part is, you can now gift an annual pass from the comfort of your own home. Learn more here.
2) Reusing and recycling is so important for our environment and our wildlife. Our range of Fair Trade upcycled bags are handmade in Cambodia from upcycled fish feed and cement bags. There are a variety of functional products available including wallets and purses, fold up shopping bags, yoga mat bags, notebooks and even cute bunting.
3) Do you ever wonder what happens to broken flip flops? Unfortunately, a lot of them end up in our oceans, polluting the waters and ending up as unwanted food for marine life. On the Kenyan Coast, flip flops wash up on the beach everyday creating an environmental disaster for the local community. The amazing team at Ocean Sole take these discarded flip flops and create colourful handmade sculptures in a variety of different sizes and shapes – rhino, giraffe, tigers and more!
4) Check out these cute Knitted Kritters! These unique knitted soft toys are made from homespun wool, with each piece hand-crafted by one of over 400 Kenyan women. Their knitting provides regular income and benefits for the community, such as free health clinics and eye checks, a savings plan, and access to electricity.
5) Get a necklace for your friend or relative, and support our conservation work! Available in a variety of styles, these beautiful necklaces were handmade in Auckland. 100% of your purchase of these pieces support the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund.
6) Be an Auckland Zoo advocate with a fun, branded water bottle! Made from aluminium – these water bottles are built to last. They’re also great for the environment, eliminating the need for single-use plastic and making sure you’re always hydrated while on the go. Available in a wide range of fun colours, get one for you and your whānau this Christmas– at only $14.90 for an aluminium eco-friendly bottle, how can you go wrong?
7) Give the experience of a lifetime! Need a Christmas gift for an animal lover, or someone who has everything? Gift a behind-the-scenes voucher for your friends or whānau and give them the chance to get up close to our squirrel monkeys and capybara or Galapagos tortoises, and feed them their favourite snacks. Learn more here.
There's many more puzzles, games, books and more in our WildZone gift shop!
