Zealandia (wildlife sanctuary)

Zealandia
Zealandia on the edge of suburban Wellington
Type	Wildlife sanctuary
Location	Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates	41°17′40″S 174°45′00″E / 41.29444°S 174.75000°E / -41.29444; 174.75000
Area	225 ha (560 acres)
Created	1999 (1999)
Owned by	Wellington City Council
Operated by	Karori Sanctuary Trust
Open	All year around except 25 December
Website	https://www.visitzealandia.com/

Zealandia, formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary,^[1] is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary,^[2] where the biodiversity of 225 ha (just under a square mile) of forest is being restored. The sanctuary was previously part of the water catchment area for Wellington, between Wrights Hill (bordering Karori) and the Brooklyn wind turbine on Polhill.

Most of New Zealand's ecosystems have been severely modified by the introduction of land mammals that were not present during the evolution of its ecosystems, and have had a devastating impact on both native flora and fauna. The sanctuary, surrounded by a pest-exclusion fence, is a good example of an ecological island, which allows the original natural ecosystems to recover by minimising the impact of introduced flora and fauna.

The sanctuary has become a significant tourist attraction in Wellington and is responsible for the greatly increased number of sightings of species such as tūī and kākā in city's suburbs.

Sometimes described as the world's first mainland island sanctuary in an urban environment,^[3][4] the sanctuary has inspired many similar projects throughout New Zealand, with predator-proof fences now protecting the biodiversity of many other areas of forest. Examples include the 7.7-hectare (19-acre) lowland podocarp forest remnant of Riccarton bush/Putaringamotu, the 98-hectare (240-acre) Bushy Park, and the 3,500-hectare (8,600-acre) Maungatautari Restoration Project enclosing an entire mountain.