Ti Pi Reptile Park » Reptile Park

Ti Pi Reptile Park
12-01-2008

I went up to Ti Pi point yesterday (11/01/08) to visit the only Reptile Park in NZ…

I’m not sure of the history of this place but I have been reliablely informed it was once was a zoo…

There appeared to be 200 – 300 animals of about 40 species… The park is quite obviously privately founded and has a homestead on the site… There were only two people acting on the staff. One was the guy who appeared to own it and the other was a volunteer I had a quick chat too (on the web)…

The park is well off the beaten track and requires an out of the way trip for almost all attendees…

Upon entering the park there are a row of gecko/skink enclosures as part of the admissions building which featured NZ and Australian species…

Skinks (NZ) at the park:

Three Kings Is. skink, O. fallai
Northern brown skink, O. moco
Shore skink, O. smithii
Striped skink, O. striatum
Egg-laying skink, O. suteri
Otago skink, O. otagense
Scree skink, O. waimatense
Robust skink, C. alani

Exotic skinks at the park:

Shingleback skink, Trachydosaurus rugosus
Blue-tongue skink, Tiliqua scincoides
Cunninghams skink, Egernia cunninghamii

Geckos (NZ) at the park:

Northland green gecko, N. greyii
Green gecko, N. elegans
Forest gecko, H. granulatus
Goldstripe gecko, H. chrysosireticus
Duvaucels gecko, H. duvauceli

Exotic geckos at the park:

House gecko, Gecko monarchus
House Gecko, Gehyra australis
Leopard Gecko, Eublepharis macularus
Day gecko, Phelsuma madagascarensis

The enclosures at the park all seemed about 20 to 30 years old and in need in some maintenance, upgrades, replant or even a fresh coat of paint… The enclosures (throughout the park) all looked like they did not have enough staff looking after them but all the animals looked happy, well fed and healthy (it was obvious they were as well looked after as possible, it is no surprise this place is ARAZPA accredited at the moment)…

The park was divided into two parts, upper and lower… The upper part contained a large area for Australian Dragons (Eastern Bearded and Water)…

Exotic lizards at the park:

Eastern bearded dragon, Pogona barbatus
Eastern water dragon, Physignathus leseurii

The upper area also had few large paddocks for Tortoises and a row of Turtle enclosures (about 5 or species)…

The rest of the park was in a loop format through an area of native bush (it’s a good walk with some spectacular views), the majority of the collection is held in this area… The first house you come across contains skinks/geckos in open runs with enclosure boxes at the front (hard to see them but a large area for small animals)…

The next enclosure surprised me, capuchin monkeys… The exhibit contained two. The only other place I’ve seen them is Hamilton zoo (these animals are left over from the days when the park was a zoo not just focusing on reptiles, there are no plans to breed them), the enclosure was a little small but it was well planted and had climbing areas available…

Further down the hill came the American Alligator (I’ve been told there is a male and female but I only saw one)… I was impressed with this enclosure, well planted, quite large, secluded… Not too bad at all…

Going around the loop there were turtles, tortoises and skinks in relatively large open plan enclosures…

Tortoises and Turtles at the park:

Red-footed tortoise, Geochelone carbonaria
Yellow-footed Tortoise, Geochelone denticulata
Leopard tortoise, Geochelone pardalis
Chaco tortoise, Geochelone chilensis
Star tortoise, Geochelone elegans
Asian box turtle, Cuora amboinensis
Murray River turtle, Emydura macquarii
Texas tortoise, Gopherus berlandieri
Spur-thighed tortoise, Testuda ibera
Hermans tortoise, Testuda hermanni
Red-eared terrapin, Pseudyms scripta
Reeves turtle, Chinemys reevesii
Box turtle, Terrapene carolina
Snake-neck terrapin, Chelodina longicollis

The last major area at the park comes about three quarters of the way around the loop with a building containing the parks Chameleons, only Monitor (Sand monitor), Tuatara’s (4 that I could see) and a few other open exhibits, large internal exhibits and Gecko Terrariums… The Sand Monitor was quite large and more impressive than any reptile at either Auckland or Hamilton Zoo. It is always great to see Tuatara and these were amongst the largest I’ve ever seen…

The were a few pairs of Chameleons, in large planted terrariums…

Chameleons and Monitors:

Sand monitor, Varanus gouldii
Jacksons chameleon, Chamaeleo jacksonii

I’m sure there are a few other things I’ve forgotten but that is the highlights…

Pros:

- Almost all of the animals looked great…
- The enclosures were spacious although it was obvious a bit of money was lacking…
- The collection was AMAZING considering NZ import laws and the fact I think this park is an animal enthusiast opening his collection to the public to subsidise his passion, it is very good…

Cons:

- The enclosures looked like they had been built in 1978 and had basic maintenance since…
- The capuchins were out of place but are being phased out…

The park is less than an hours drive from Auckland and if you have a spare day to kill pick out a beach near the park and stop in at both for a couple of hours (lot to do up near Leigh and Walkworth)… The collection is equal too (and superior than) most of NZ’s large zoos reptile collection although obviously with less money but you can see many, many NZ reptiles in one place…

Well worth the trip and hey only:

Adult: $10

Child $5

Here’s their website:

Reptile park home page

13-01-2008

@NZ Jeremy: love the review. I am constantly trawling the web for overviews of zoos, parks and aquariums and enjoy the lengthy recaps of past visits.

13-01-2008

Ti Point originally started out as a general wildlife park/zoo. It had all sorts of animals including monkeys and bison (those are the only ones I can remember; I have an old 'Listener' article at home about them -- I'll see if I can dig it out). The owner eventually decided to just stick with reptiles but kept a few of the old animals (hence the capuchins).

The condition of the park as you describe it (looking a bit run-down but obviously well-looked after and the animals well-cared for) is pretty typical of most of the private collections that are open to the public around the country.

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