New nene family in Mission Possible
We're delighted to announce that nene goslings have hatched this spring, in our Mission Possible exhibit.
This is a new nene pair to Mission Possible and they're thriving in the Hawaiian-themed habitat, as you can see by their beautiful new family!
Excitingly, visitors can enjoy hand-feeding the new family lettuce with our Visitor Engagers, at 12 noon throughout the school holidays.
There are six goslings in the new family and when visiting you may notice that three are a lot smaller than the others, this is due to the nene habit of informal fostering. In Hawaii some pairs can end up with dozens of goslings to care for, as the goslings gather and then forget how to get home! This is all part of understanding our birds and their ecology. It might be sad for their original mum, but lovely to know that any gosling will be cared for in the nene world. It also goes to show how important habitat is for the nene, to give them the necessary space to thrive.
Come and meet the gorgeous goslings this season, our Visitor Engagers will be on hand to help answer any questions!
