Newsletter -July 2025
- ametcalfe53
- Jul 31
- 5 min read
Events Programme August 2025
5th Wanderers’ walk.
Leaving from Zoo Car Park at 10.30am
Brooklands Nature Walk. - Lead - Tony Burrell
We will be following the nature walk booklet path and answering the questions posed in the booklet. We are revising the booklet and will note the many changes that have occurred over time.
12th Committee meeting
19th Wanderers’ walk.
Meet at the Zoo Car Park at 10.30am
We will be visiting the Zoo for a walk and tour with Eve Cozzi, Zoo Lead.
Please note Eve contributes to our monthly blog – you may have seen her articles.
28th Evening Meeting
Citizens Advice Bureau, next to the Y.M.C.A. - 7pm
An invitation to prospective councillors to meet the members of the Friends of Pukekura Park and respond to some questions from the Friends. We would like to know more about the interests of the councillors and if any of them would like to be a representative along with Bryan on our committee.
Review of June's Events
July 1st - Wanderers' Walk
Eighteen people enjoyed the walk on a sunny fresh morning. First stop was Cannon Hill, the focal point of the opening day of the Park on May 29, 1876, almost 150 years ago. This iconic spot could do with a bit of TLC. There were a surprising number of people on the walk who had never ventured up Cannon Hill before.
In 1976 there were six centennial trees planted, four of which remain today. Two of these were planted on top of Cannon Hill, a kauri planted by Don Saxton (past - Pukekura Park committee chairman) and a Norfolk Island Pine planted by New Plymouth's mayor, Denis Sutherland.
We then went down to the path between Cannon Hill and Fountain Lake stopping at a gingko tree. This was planted by Fred Parker on the centennial day. Here Tony shared some of his knowledge about gingkos.
On the way to the gingko Alan pointed out a couple of trees that may have been planted on the opening day, a puriri behind the bellringer Pavilion and a yew tree next to the path near the fountain pump house.
Following the path round to the south end of Hatchery Lawn Alan pointed out a Tilia x euchlora (Linden tree) planted by Dorothy Eliot King (Adrienne Tatham's mother) and councillor E. P. Allen.
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We went back onto Cannon Hill where Alan showed us the remnants of some whale jaw bones on the front face of Cannon Hill. They have been there since the mid 1890s.
Next stop was 'The Poet's Bridge' Opened in 1884. Famously named after a horse called 'The Poet'. The bridge was designed by Henry Vere Barclay, civil engineer and surveyor. Tony went into some detail about the unusual design of this iconic bridge. Alan shared with us how it came to be painted red. When it was rebuilt in 1937 the park Committee asked the public what colour it should be. A gentleman who had recently returned from Japan suggested painting it the same colour as a bridge he had seen at Nikko.
Our tour ended at the Fred Parker Lawn. The kauri tree in the lawn is another commemorative planting. This was planted in 1929 when the Park was handed over to the council.
July 3rd - Flooding in the Park
July 24th - Evening Meeting
Tony Barnes gave an interesting talk about his role as a garden assessor for "New Zealand Gardens Trust. The Trust was Established in 2003 by the RNZIH to promote the best in New Zealand gardens and horticulture. The trust has set up a system to assess all registered gardens and provide visitors with information that truly reflects the experience of visiting those gardens. Their team of assessors is made up of highly-qualified horticulturists and landscape architects. Gardens are rated by a star system, 3 stars being the lowest rating going up to six which is exceptional. Each garden is assessed every three years to make sure it is maintaining its standard and the rating may go up or down depending on how it is assessed. If a garden drops below its published rating the owners have a year to make changes if they want to maintain their rating.
The second half of Tony's talk was devoted to showing slides from several gardens featured in the trust. He shared some of his thoughts on each garden. Probably the most impressive garden was the six star "Ayrlies" in Whitford, East Auckland. A six-hectare garden created over many decades by Beverley McConnel, who was one of the main instigators of the trust with Gordon Collier.
The trust has an excellent website with detailed information on all of their listed gardens. This is a great resource for visitors to NZ and locals who are planning trips around the country wanting to see some of our best gardens.
Check out the New Zealand Gardens Trust website.
From the Zoo
Article by Renee Downing – Brooklands Senior Zookeeper.
On 19 October last year, Brooklands Zoo welcomed an infant tufted capuchin monkey, our first baby in seven years.
Mother Mani (seven years old) and father Churi (nine years old) are first-time parents. The addition of this infant female, named Pepita (pumpkin seed) by keepers, was a great opportunity for greater bonding between all members of the group.
Tufted capuchin monkeys are native to large areas of South America – such as Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela – and live in a variety of forest types. Tufted capuchins are a social species living in groups consisting of one or two adult males and many females. (On average. wild groups consist of 18 individuals). Our group at Brooklands Zoo consists of our dominant male Churi, five adult females and Pepita.
Lots of interest was shown towards Pepita from group members within the first few days, but Mani was very protective initially. Mani was often seen nursing and grooming Pepita and carrying her across her shoulders and later her back when moving around the habitat and resting.
Mani began to relax after a few weeks and the capuchin greeting from adult to infant was often observed from other individuals, where the adult puts their face close to the infants and rapidly moves their lips together and apart (called lip smacking).
Pepita has grown a lot since then, now weighing 1.4kg, and she loves to explore, play and follow other adults around, learning capuchin behaviours such as foraging and grooming, spending most of the day off Mani’s back. Her confidence is growing, and she loves to eat! She will still feed off Mani until roughly two years of age but is also enjoying lots of solid food – her favourites are cooked kumara and corn.
She is often seen play-wrestling with Churi and Aunty Garbanzo and is also learning how to use her prehensile tail and testing how far she can jump between trees and ropes.
Having an infant capuchin to care for has been a first for me as a keeper, and it’s been a rewarding experience. It allowed me to expand my knowledge of the species and observe behaviours from the group members that would otherwise not be seen without the presence of an infant.
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