Butterfly Creek: Auckland's unusual combination of zoo, amusement park and conservation hub

“He looks at you like you’re worm spit, eh?”

Paul is right: Diego is regarding me with total disdain, his eye swivelling to gaze at me coldly. It helps, of course, that he is literally cold-blooded.

Diego is a green iguana, a Central American species that can live to around 40 years. Diego is only about six but, thanks to Paul Barrett and his co-workers at Butterfly Creek, he already knows he is special.

Located near Auckland Airport, this is an unusual combination of zoo, amusement park and conservation hub. It was established in 2003 by John Dowsett and his wife Fiona Turner, who met while working at Auckland Zoo. John’s vision was to create somewhere with a different angle on animals, focusing on interaction, fun and sustainability.

So what was once a paddock containing one tree is now a complex of recycled buildings surrounded by lush greenery and wetlands that support, amongst other things, a large population of wild short-finned eels. Black and shiny, they arrive every day at 2pm for a meal, part of a programme of animal encounters where the public can watch various species being fed, or exhibited, right up close, and learn about them from the keeper.

Most dramatic is the crocodile feed, when either Goldie or Scar, huge salt-water crocs from northern Australia, have to dance for their dinner. To get them to indulge in a bit of healthy exercise – not something they choose to do, being what are creepily called ambush predators – they’re enticed to launch themselves up out of the water to grab a meaty fish frame hung from a long rod. Our jaws almost as wide as the croc’s, we’re all awed as five-metre Goldie jumps up to snatch it, falling back with a big splash.

At the other end of the scale from all that scary drama, there are the otters and meerkats. Going behind the scenes on a private encounter, I watch Joanne select some enviable seafood – the otters’ menu includes tiger prawns, mussels, salmon and octopus – which we poke into various containers. I also get to push some pieces through the mesh door into five eager little mouths.

Back outside, we watch as Asia and her offspring tumble about in and out of the water, deftly hooking their dinner out through the holes in the containers. Smallest of the otter species, they are super-cute, as well as nimble and clever, and Joanne tells us all about them as we admire their dexterity.

Next door, the three meerkats in their impressively-decorated big enclosure are new to Butterfly Park, but have made themselves right at home. They too are challenged by having to work for their food, getting enrichment as well as nutrition. Despite their eagerness, they still take turns at playing sentry, standing up alertly on top of a handy log. Meanwhile, two nocturnal Cape porcupines with spectacularly long, striped quills snooze unperturbed nearby.

The other private encounter on offer is with the gorgeous little cotton-top tamarins, Shyla and Raf. These fluffy mini-monkeys, one of the smallest in the world, are critically endangered by habitat loss in Colombia, so it’s hoped that these two will breed. It’s a real treat to step into their enclosure and have them delicately take pieces of boiled chicken, fruit and wriggling larvae from my gloved fingers. Near enough to study their tiny faces, I find them so dainty and sweet that it’s hard to leave.

There is so much more to see, though. In the nocturnal house are three northern brown kiwi, part of a national raise-to-release programme. They share their habitat with the wētāpunga which are the focus of another of Butterfly Creek’s conservation efforts.

This giant grasshopper, easily a handful of shiny brown body and spiky legs, is up close a marvel of nature and, with its long, delicate antennae and big, shiny black eyes, unexpectedly cute. Selected from a wall full of cages, each inhabitant imaginatively named (“We’ve done Harry Potter,” says Paul. “We’re onto Minecraft now”) Gloria is both magnificent and unperturbed at being the centre of attention as the breeding programme is explained.

The tarantula, though, not so much. “Do you like giant spiders?” Paul asks brightly, bringing out Freda, a Brazilian black. Covered in dark, velvety hairs, she is awesomely huge and, cupped upside-down in Paul’s hand, horribly fascinating.

He cheerfully points out her shiny black fangs, telling us, “They’ll take anything they can overwhelm, even up to small birds” and adds, chillingly, “They are very inventive.” Backing off, I prefer to admire through glass the striking Costa Rican striped knee tarantula, another of the five species at Butterfly Creek.

Big, lime-green Diego lives next door, and it’s a relief to see his superior disdain of observers as he nibbles at some puha, his scaly dewlap relaxed. His companions, a trio of small leopard tortoises from Africa, are much less cool, falling eagerly onto their pile of greenery.

I’m not cool either when I enter the butterfly house. Partly this is thanks to the literally tropical heating in there, but mainly it’s because a big and gorgeous blue morpho butterfly instantly lands on my masked chin. As it flies away again, I get to see up close its brilliantly blue wings. It’s one of the biggest butterflies in the world, with a wingspan that can reach 20 centimetres, and it’s a glorious sight to see, fluttering through the lush vegetation in the airy enclosure.

Today there are members of about four different species to spot and admire, all of them strikingly colourful. Imported as chrysalises from the Philippines and Costa Rica, newly-emerged butterflies are released daily to delight visitors.

I still haven’t seen everything yet. Outside is a mini-farm with goats, ponies, pigs and more to feed; there’s a train, a playground and an aviary. There are even life-sized mermaids and unicorns, dragons and aliens, plus a scattering of huge, roaring and moving dinosaurs to marvel at. This is going to take a while. Time to fuel up at the café.

Butterfly Creek is at 10 Tom Pearce Drive, 10 minutes’ walk or a free shuttle bus ride from Auckland Airport. It’s open from Wednesday to Sunday 9.30am to 4pm, longer at weekends and on public and school holidays. Standard entrance fees are adults $29, children $16, with family and other discounts available. Nine public animal encounters occur throughout the day, and private encounters with otters and tamarins can be booked, starting at $80 per person. Children can take part in the Junior Keeper programme.

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