Diets

At Brooklands Zoo our animals are fed a healthy and varied diet which is approved by our vet and is also periodically compared with other facilities. 

Some of our animals have special dietary requirements and supplements are added to their diets.

While most of the food for the animals is bought from conventional shops we source our meal worms, wax moths and locusts from a supplier in Auckland.

With most animals receiving up to four feeds a day, a large part of our keepers' days are spent in the kitchen preparing and feeding out food as well as doing dishes. We monitor our animals’ health closely and one of the first signs of keepers noticing when an animal is sick is whether or not it is eating.

Food plays a large part in our enrichment programme. Sometimes enrichment items are hidden in different areas within the habitat or are presented in different ways to stimulate our animals to display their natural behaviours (such as foraging).

Remember please do not feed any of the zoo’s animals (including the wild birds). The wrong food could make our animals sick. This includes picking and feeding them flowers or plants as some of these items could be toxic.