Staglands Wildlife Reserve

Staglands Wildlife Reserve was established by John Simister in 1972 in the Akatarawa Valley near Wellington. One of the reserve’s overall aims is advocacy, by ensuring that all New Zealanders have access to their native wildlife, in as natural surroundings as possible.

Creation of the reserve involved the re-cycling and sculpting of 25 acres of bush, farmland and water, and thousands of tons of clay into a natural home for unusual, iconic and endangered species.

John Simister sees the reserve as a place where animals and birds can live freely in their natural habitat and where people can observe and interact with the wildlife. The original idea behind Staglands was to inspire a love of wildlife and to encourage people to see the need to protect our natural environment.

John was 22 when he first came to New Zealand in 1967.  He decided to stay and ran a shop in Wellington for a number of years in order to build up the capital to buy some farmland. Staglands was begun with hope – but not a lot of practical experience. “Quite simply we did not have enough time, money or skill,” he says.

Today Staglands works with the Conservation Department to protect threatened and endangered species. They run several breeding programmes for native birds including the blue duck, the New Zealand bush falcon, the North Island kaka and the kea. These programmes focus on releasing the birds into the wild and ensuring the population’s survival.

The possibility for interaction with animals and birds in a natural environment that Staglands offers is seen by many as its greatest attraction.  John says “perhaps Stagland’s greatest contribution is to offer everyone, especially children, the opportunity of an interactive moment of such intensity with an animal or bird in our beautiful surroundings, that it may kindle a lasting love of wildlife”.

Today, as well as the five aviaries and other animal homes, Staglands maintains a cafe, a barn for functions, a swing bridge and a flying fox.

Bruce Meek is an ex-dairy farmer who visited Staglands and ended up working for John Simister as one of his rangers.   Bruce loves the work and says its like farming, but with several added levels of difficulty because of the wide range of different animals they have to look after.   He says most of the stock are on brought-in hard feed.

There’s a handful of cattle on the farmlet, some horses, pigs, deer and a wide range of birds.

One of his big surprises is the number of young town kids that come to the reserve having never had any interaction with livestock at all. For a country that prides itself on its rural origins, it seems we are remarkably urban.