Visit Te Paranui Animal Sanctuary with your friends and family!
Enjoy hanging with the animals in the pet zone, watching our cats and birds in the ‘cavery’ and walking around to meet with the horses and donkeys and feeding and petting the farm animals on our Open Days. Kids of all ages enjoy getting close to pet goats, Chooks, Turkeys and Giant Flemish Bunnies Lola and Tofu in the Pet Zone. Have a break and picnic while the kids play on the giant trampoline!
Opening Hours:
Every Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm – CLOSED IN JULY/AUGUST!
WEATHER PERMITTING: we are closed in case of wet/windy/cold.
Watch out for the red flag 🚩 indicating that we’re open!
Outside our opening hours visits by appointment only.
Admission:
Koha of $10 per adult and $5 per child
is appreciated as a minimum contribution for your visit.
If you find it in your heart and purse, any extra donation is gratefully received to help us caring for the animals.
Animal Food:
Please feed only the food we provide to our animals!
You can get a bag with pellets to feed to all our animals (other than the horses), please leave a Koha for the animal food of at least $5 per bag.
All animals are safely accessible form the fully enclosed visitors area and can be petted by children of all ages.
Directions
You’ll find us in Koromiko off SH1 between Blenheim and Picton in the Para Wetlands. You will see a colourful letterbox, the flag and our sign. Please drive through the gate onto the property to the designated parking area for visitors
Parking
There are 5 parking spots for visitors. Please park your car there and proceed to the entrance of the visitors area for signing in. Please do not park anywhere else and do not walk around the private property without prior talking to us!
Sign-in & Payment
Please sign-in at our welcome desk and leave your koha in the money box. We cannot give you change nor do we accept eftpos or credit cards, please bring the exact amount you want to donate in cash.
Health & Safty
After signing-in make yourself familiar with the health & safety rules that are posted at the welcome desk. Our Animals are all friendly however there is always a chance that an incident can happen. Minimise the risk to get injured by reading and obeying our health& safety rules!
Children
All children under 14 years need to be supervised by an accompanying adult at all times! Your health and safety and that of your children is important to us and also the wellbeing of our animals. Children often don’t know how to properly behave around animals. We are there to help! Please ask us if unsure. As a rule, children should never hit, kick, pinch, pull, push or drop an animal and neither shout or yell at them. They should also be shown by an adult how to properly pet and feed the different animals, we’re happy to do a demonstration for your kids, just reach out please.
Food & Drinks, Picknicks
You can BYO but you have to strictly obey our rules: no animal products, alcohol, smoking or drugs anywhere on the property. When you bring snacks be aware that most contain some animal products, i.e. milk powder or egg white in flavourings. Read the list of ingredients and bring only plant-based or vegan food and drinks. Best is to bring fruits and nuts as a snack! Remember, do not feed your food to the animals!
Litter
Please take absolute anything back that you brought with you on your visit, any kind of packaging, food wraps, drinking container etc. We are thriving towards a no-waste environment and do not provide a litter box nor a rubbish disposal service.
Dogs
It is not wise to bring your dog along for a ride as he has to be in your car at all times! If you cannot make arrangements for your dog to stay at home when visiting talk to us we’ll show you where to park your car away from the animals and in the shade.
Gates & Gardens
ALL GATES HAVE TO STAY CLOSED during your visit. Do not open any gates other than the gate to the visitors area. You can have a walk around our Permaculture Gardens but you have to supervise your children at all times! Te Paranui is a private property. Show respect to our residents and DO NOT go near the main house or the sleep out.
The rule is: if you have to open a gate or door you are probably on the wrong way! (This doesn’t apply to the toilet and gate in the visitors area)
Terms & Conditions
Please read our terms & conditions here.
Questions?
We are there to answer your questions and help you around! Please use the messanger icon to chat with us now or find one of us when you visit, you can identify us easily we’re wearing the cool Te Paranui Animal Sanctuary T-Shirt!
