Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

Love visiting every time! This time did the lemur encounter and it was awesome! They were very gentle when taking the food from us. The keeper was amazing and had some great facts to share. Feeding the eels, the farmyard and going through kiwi habitat are other favourites. Been going often for the past 8 years or so and totally recommend the child's annual membership so they can go with any adult :) - thanks for another memory Willowbank! - Pics attached, was hard finding many with no people in them :D

Absolutely amazing. Great experience for all young and old. My daughter loved it. Being able to be amongst alot of the animals makes for a great time. I would frequent here over Orana Park anyday

Loved the experience. Visited other wildlife parks and so far one can beat Willowbank. The animals are all well taken care of. The experience of feeding them especially the eels were 💯 My daughter enjoyed it too. Food at the cafe was also pretty decent! Price is reasonable too.

The zoo has an atmosphere similar to an open-range zoo, featuring a wide variety of New Zealand animals. Ducks can be seen wandering along almost the entire path. It’s a great place to take children to learn and explore.

Love it. If I have chance to come back Chc again I’ll definitely visit again. With parking! You can get the food for the animal. Such a great place for both adult and kid. The cafe serves good food too!

A lot of free roaming ducks and geese. The kiwi house was exceptionally good. Although the house was extremely dark and there were only 3 kiwis, we managed to spot them all after we adjusted our eyes to the dark. There were many native New Zealand species of birds too such as the kea, kakapo and the wea. You also can buy food to feed the farm animals, ducks.

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve is an amazing, family-friendly spot with a great mix of native New Zealand animals and exotic species. The highlight for me was seeing real kiwi up close in their nocturnal house—no glass barrier and guaranteed sightings! The layout is easy to walk, with shaded paths and plenty of chances to feed animals like deer, goats, and even eels (which was surprisingly fun). It’s a perfect place for kids, but adults will enjoy it just as much. There’s also a Māori cultural experience available in the evenings, which looked awesome, though we didn’t attend this time. The whole place feels personal and immersive—definitely not your average zoo. Great value for money, close to the airport, and an easy way to see some of New Zealand’s unique wildlife up close. Highly recommend! Took well over 120+ Videos and Photos that cannot be put in this review because max is 50!

Highly recommend to visit this place if you’re in Christchurch! The Willowbank Wildlife Reserve was an amazing taste of all the local wildlife found in New Zealand. Coming from the US, I really enjoyed seeing wallabies, capybaras, and of course the Kiwi bird for the first time! There is also food you can buy to feed the animals, making the visit even more hands on and enjoyable! It was so fun, we ended up spending 3 hours here!