Jane Healy, Auckland Zoo
This Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu Auckland Zoo is celebrating its 189-strong whānau of volunteers and the incredible contribution they make to enhancing our visitors’ zoo experiences and supporting our kaimahi and the animals they care for - 364 days a year!
These passionate and dedicated individuals (from 15 - 89 years of age) are from all walks of life and very much embody this year’s National Volunteer Week’s (15 – 21 June) theme ‘Whiria te tangata’ – weaving the people together.
From roles as visitor assistants and guides to ‘Zoo crew’ - for practical tasks like cleaning and collecting browse (vegetation for animals), and those that help our veterinary hospital team, our volunteers play an invaluable role in the daily life of Auckland Zoo.
“Anyone who visits us will likely encounter these kind, friendly, knowledgeable people that are unmissable in their bright red uniforms. Collectively they volunteer around 30,000+ hours each year and Auckland Zoo just wouldn’t be the same without them,” says Dr Sarah Thomas, the Zoo’s head of conservation advocacy and engagement.
“As a community-focused cultural organisation, our volunteer programme plays a key role in enabling the hundreds of thousands of visitors we welcome each year to connect with each other as part of te taiao (the natural world). Whether it’s having a chat about your favourite zoo animal, learning more about our conservation fieldwork, or having the best day out with your whānau, our volunteers have got you! We feel so lucky to have such a wonderful team of volunteers that truly exemplify how we serve our communities as te pā hono – a place of connection.”
This year, the Zoo is saying a special ngā mihi nui to two of its longest-serving volunteers, Anne Sebine and Gillian Burley, who in July will each celebrate an epic 30 years of volunteering.
The firm friends - both visitor guides, met on the first day they started at the Zoo, and have been volunteering together every Friday for the past three decades. Now in their early 80s, they remain as enthusiastic as ever and have no plans to ‘retire’.
“We never know what the day will bring and always get to meet so many interesting people, from here in New Zealand and overseas. We love that there are so many people as interested in talking about the animals as we are, and we are still learning,” says Gillian, who especially loves the enthusiasm of children.
Both agree it’s not just Zoo visitors that enrich their day and make it fun, but also their fellow volunteers.
“Things have changed a lot since we first started (in 1995) when there were only about five or six of us working on a Friday. Now we have a team of about 16 people and so many different ages and nationalities,” says Anne.
“As well as more volunteers, there have been lots of physical changes at the Zoo over the years with all the amazing new habitats, and that’s still happening,” says Gillian. “All of these things are why we keep coming back!”
In amongst today’s diversity of volunteers are 20-year-old university student Sam Ayris - a volunteer for the past year and a half, and 28-year-old Olivia Yugovich – a super busy PhD student who describes volunteering at the Zoo as a brilliant “stress release”.
Volunteer assistant Sam, now a second-year marine science student at AUT (Auckland University of Technology), says he gets a lot out of volunteering.
“I love getting to know and engage with so many different people and chatting about the animals they’ve seen and what they’re interested in, and also knowing I am making a difference in helping the Zoo out.”
Sam says his time volunteering (he works every second Saturday) has helped him gain a greater understanding about conservation in action, and the Zoo’s conservation mahi.
“While I’m studying marine science and learning all about the impacts of microplastics on marine species, some of my study is also focused on plants. In volunteering at the Zoo, I’ve really been able to increase my knowledge about plants and other terrestrial species,” says Sam.
A more recent volunteer, Olivia Yugovich, who says she has been obsessed with wildlife her entire life, is excited to head to the Zoo every Saturday and be with other great volunteers.
“I love the Zoo and its community of people that care about wildlife as much as I do. There’s a great community feel here, and I especially enjoy connecting with visitors. Even if we’re just helping them in a small way, they are all so appreciative, and I really feel valued.”
The third-year University of Auckland PhD student is working on a project to develop a rapid, portable, low-resource screening tool to identify CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) protected species at the border. Olivia’s aim is to support the timely verification of species that are present in items confiscated at the border and provide evidence towards the prosecution of wildlife crime.
The visitor assistant of three months is in training to be a guide and a ‘Reptile Rover’ (assisting our Animal Experiences team with reptile encounters for visitors).
“Being at the Zoo really reminds me of why I’m doing this project. With all my studies, teaching and supervising other PhD students during the week, volunteering is very enjoyable and a great stress-release for me!”
While Zoo volunteers must be 18 years or older, our Tuatara Club that launched in 2015, offers teenagers (15 -17 years) an incredible entry-level opportunity to gain experience in caring for animals, interacting with visitors and learning from our expert keepers.
This year, the youth volunteer programme is celebrating its 10th anniversary and has just welcomed 20 new Tuatara Club volunteers onto its 13-week programme. While applications for the Tuatara Club have now closed for 2025, the Zoo will be offering more opportunities in 2026.
Along with saying thank you to its own whānau of volunteers, Auckland Zoo is also acknowledging the great contribution of volunteers across the motu by offering all volunteers (with a valid volunteer ID) free entry for day visits (9.30am - 4.30pm) from 15 -21 June.
