Zoo staff volunteered their time to help out with Neighbours' Night

As part of our commitment to engaging with our community, every year Wellington Zoo invites our immediate neighbours, including Wellington City Council social housing tenants, to visit the Zoo for free after hours.

Neighbours’ Night is about the Zoo giving back and supporting our local community, this is especially true this year after the challenging year we’ve all had. The Zoo has been a part of the Newtown community for 114 years, and 2020 saw the Zoo being closed to visitors for the longest time since we opened in 1906.

The Zoo put on a free sausage sizzle for visitors

Neighbours Night is also about our local Newtown community sharing our beautiful Zoo space as a rich community. Newtown is a diverse neighbourhood and it’s great to see neighbours meeting each other. Despite the bad weather, our neighbours still had a great time at the Zoo and were able to experience special animal talks from Zoo staff, enjoy a free sausage sizzle, juice and ice creams, explore the Zoo and learn about the animals they live near.

Despite the bad weather, Newtown residents had a great evening at the Zoo

Our annual Neighbours’ Night is a fantastic way to start the new year, get together and meet our local community. This is many of our staff’s favourite event of the year and we can’t wait for next year’s get-together.

One of the Zoo's generous partners, New World Newtown provided the food for the event

Wellington Zoo is grateful for the generous support from our partners, New World Newtown, Frucor Suntory and Tip Top, who provided the food and beverages for this year’s Neighbours’ Night. Volunteers from Wellington City Council and Zoo staff volunteered their time and enjoyed seeing our Neighbours having a fantastic night out at the Zoo.

Zoo staff serving Newtown residents