Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch needs to find about $4.1 million in the 2026/27 financial year, and its available cash reserves are forecast to run out by March 2027 unless more help arrives, the trust that runs the zoo said on Friday.
The park remains open and operating as normal, and the trust says no decision has been made about its future. The news comes two weeks before Orana celebrates 50 years of operation on 25 September.
Orana Wildlife Trust co-chair Emeritus Professor Ken Hughey said the board believed it had a credible way through. “We do not want to cause unnecessary alarm, but we must be realistic and honest. Orana is facing the most serious financial challenge in its history, at the same time as we celebrate turning 50 this month,” he said in the trust’s statement.
The board asked accounting firm BDO Christchurch to independently check its budget for the coming year. According to the trust, BDO confirmed the shortfall of about $4.1 million, found the park’s forecasts credible and its costs broadly comparable with other zoos, and concluded that further cost cutting would not fix the underlying problem and commercial growth alone could not close the gap.
Chief executive Rachel Haydon, who took over in February 2025, said a zoo cannot simply scale back when money is short. “You cannot mothball a giraffe or pause the care of a gorilla while waiting for revenue and visitation to improve,” she said. She told RNZ that animal food alone costs about $410,000 a year and the electricity bill is budgeted at about $225,000, with around 25 specialist staff in the exotic animals team.
Orana’s own filings with Charities Services show how fast the gap has opened. In the year to June 2024 the trust took in $5.28 million and spent $5.21 million, a small surplus of about $72,000. In the year to June 2025, group accounts show income fell to $4.75 million while spending rose to $6.10 million, leaving a deficit of about $1.34 million. Staff costs of $3.87 million made up nearly two-thirds of that spending.
Spending has climbed from $4.49 million in the year to September 2022 to $6.10 million in the year to June 2025, a rise of about 36 percent. Cash and bank balances fell from $7.06 million at the end of June 2024 to $5.76 million a year later. The $4.1 million shortfall BDO has confirmed for 2026/27 is roughly three times the deficit in the latest filed accounts.
The trust says it has used significant reserves over the past two years to rebuild the organisation after a difficult 2024. Concerns raised by current and former staff that year led to media coverage of animal welfare, the reporting of animal deaths, workplace culture and leadership. The Ministry for Primary Industries stepped up its oversight, the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia commissioned an independent investigation, and the board ordered a separate workplace culture assessment. The trust says no animal welfare issues were found, but the reviews identified systemic cultural and organisational problems.
Since then Orana has appointed a new chief executive, strengthened governance and financial oversight, hired seven additional exotic animal keepers and taken on two veterinary nurses. The trust says those changes were needed to keep its accreditation. It has also appointed a fundraising and partnerships manager.
Orana has asked for help before. In an April 2024 submission on the city council’s long-term plan, the trust warned of an “inevitable financial demise” without more support. It was then receiving about $250,000 a year from the council and asked for $1.5 million a year, phased in from $500,000 in 2024/25. In June 2024 the council approved more than $500,000 a year for three years. The 2025 group accounts record $500,000 in local or central government grants.
Haydon said those earlier requests were made before the reviews showed the full cost of running a modern, accredited park. According to the trust, BDO found council funding, grants and donations made up 57 percent of Wellington Zoo’s revenue in 2025, compared with 23 percent of Orana’s. Chris Lynch Media notes Orana is the only major zoo in New Zealand not owned and run by local government.
“Council is a key partner, but Orana can’t ask Council to solve this alone,” Hughey said. Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger told RNZ the park had made the council aware of its situation, and he would not comment further until a report comes to an upcoming council meeting.
Hughey told RNZ that closing the park was not a realistic option. Pressed by Chris Lynch Media on what would happen if the money did not come in, he said the board had fallback plans, and “one of those may well be closure”, though he did not regard that as a genuine possibility at this stage. He said job losses or animal transfers were not realistic options either. “It’s probably fair to say that other zoos will not want our gorillas. They’re very expensive to house, so they would be very difficult to ship,” he said.
The stakes go beyond Christchurch. Orana is New Zealand’s only open-range zoo and home to more than 1000 animals from over 90 species, including the country’s only gorillas and addax. It is one of only two places breeding the orange-fronted parakeet, the country’s rarest parakeet, for release into the wild, and more than 350 endangered native birds, including blue duck, brown teal and kiwi, have been bred there and released.
The recovery plan rests on growing visitor and commercial income, keeping tight control of costs, and building regular support from government, philanthropists and businesses. Hughey told Chris Lynch Media the board wants about $1 million raised by the end of October to extend the park’s runway, and he told RNZ the park hoped to make a significant announcement in about three weeks. A Givealittle appeal went live at noon on Friday, and people can also give regularly through the Orana website or simply visit.
“The situation is dire and time is tight, but we have a plan and we believe Orana has a future,” Hughey said.
Have you visited Orana over its 50 years, and should councils or the government help keep independent zoos open? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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