Instead, the zoo had plans to increase numbers of some of its current animals, including the blackbuck, zebra, and ostrich. <\/p>\n
Masamba and ungulate senior keeper Josh de Waard. Masamba passed away last year. Photo \/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n
\u201c[They] do better with certain population numbers, so we will be looking to adjust for those welfare preferences,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Fleming said the zoo was a \u201ccomplex ecosystem requiring ever-changing methods\u201d to keep animals, visitors and staff happy, and space is a \u201ccritical component\u201d. <\/p>\n
That includes reviewing and upgrading habitats, improving animal enrichment, boosting visitor safety and accessibility, and ensuring facilities meet \u201cmodern animal care standards\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the zoo was focusing on bringing existing \u201canimal habitats up to standard\u201d, as zoo standards continuously evolved as animal management improved. <\/p>\n
The \u201cpriority\u201d was the Savannah habitat, which includes giraffes, rhinos, bison, ostriches, deer, and antelopes. <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the new property gives us the much-needed space to deliver those improvements efficiently and safely when the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Future decisions about species are made with a \u201cstrong focus\u201d on conservation, animal welfare, and the zoo\u2019s long-term strategy. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis land purchase gives us flexibility for future planning, but it doesn\u2019t signal a sudden expansion of species,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is on providing the best possible care to the animals who already call Hamilton Zoo home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton City Council chief executive Lance Vervoort. <\/p>\n
The council\u2019s chief executive, Lance Vervoort, said this was the first time the property had been available in more than three decades. <\/p>\n
\u201cProperty is rarely more affordable than it is now and we might not have this opportunity again for a long time, if ever,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He said the purchase allowed space for planned future habitat developments, such as the southern white rhinos. <\/p>\n
Vervoort said the \u201cplanned\u201d rhino management facility directly bordered the property. <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving this land gives us safer and more efficient access away from visitor areas, saving between $600,000 and $800,000 on that project alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only is the property in the best location for access to hard-to-reach areas of the zoo, having this property will allow us to save around $900,000 in efficiencies.\u201d <\/p>\n
Decided by a unanimous council vote in December 2025, the purchase was funded through the council\u2019s Strategic Land Fund, with money available following the sale of a previous strategic land holding in Rototuna.<\/p>\n
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakat\u0101ne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Instead, the zoo had plans to increase numbers of some of its current animals, including the blackbuck, zebra,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[50493,95,3648,11231,156,28254,6288,67841,115765,5345,19720,20066,111,139,3591,69,2171,814,13673,71217,96962,544,61,102,34320],"class_list":["post-338581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-17m","tag-and","tag-animal","tag-boost","tag-entertainment","tag-giraffe","tag-hamilton","tag-herd","tag-herds","tag-increase","tag-land","tag-milliondollar","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-numbers","tag-nz","tag-plans","tag-property","tag-purchase","tag-rhino","tag-savannah","tag-some","tag-to","tag-with","tag-zoos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}