Pandas and gannets popular Auckland attractions

Press, 20 December 1988, Page 36

Pandas and gannets popular Auckland attractions

Story and pictures by

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

They are black and white and furry all over. They sleep a lot, eat five tonnes of bamboo a year, are currently on holiday in Auckland and have a family history of being lousy lovers. Who are they?

A couple of pandas named Xiao Xiao (pronounced sheow sheow, rhyming with bow-wow) and his mate, Fei Fei (pronounced fay fay). They are black and white and feathered all over. They live on a densely populated fortress of rock 45 minutes north of Auckland city, are keen on fresh fish, and, if the high number of their offspring is anything to go by, are most successful .lovers.

And who are they? The 1500 gannets that reside in a sea-swept colony at Muriwai. Both pandas and gannets are proving popular attractions this summer season and should not be missed by anyone visiting

Auckland with at least half a day to spare. The pandas will be at the Auckland Zoo for only another month before they are returned to their permanent home in China.

Xiao Xiao and Fei Fei have their own specially built home in the zoo complete with running water, moat, and threetiered platform that allows up to 1000 visitors an hour to view their antics.

Unfortunately, when I called on them the other day, they were anything but active, preferring instead to doze in the shade of their pen away from the heat of the midday sun.

They can, however, be seen at their best just after the zoo gates are opened at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. on Fridays) or shortly before closing time at 5.30 p.m. Admission charges are $8 for adults ($4.50 for pensioners) and $4 for children aged from five to 15 years.

And now for some panda trivia, courtesy of the zoo’s public relations department: • Panda is a French corruption of the Tibetan term for bamboo eater. • They reach sexual maturity between the age of six and seven years and can live for 30 years. • The gestation period for pandas can range from 97 to 163 days because, apparently, once a panda’s egg is fertilised, its implantation in the female’s uterus may be delayed by weeks or even months.

• At birth a baby weighs only 113 grams. Its eyes

will not open until it is 40 days old and it will not start crawling until three to four months by which time it will weight about 3kg.

From the zoo, the gannet colony at Muriwai is a comfortable 40 minute drive past the vineyards of Henderson and the Whenuapai Air Force base. Visitors without their own transport can take an escorted mini-bus tour for

$45 with Bush and Beach, Ltd (telephone Auckland 378.209). The tours are available from September to May. The price includes hotel pickup and light refreshments.

Although smaller than the gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers, the Muriwai colony is much more accessible and involves only a five-minute walk from the carpark to the viewing platforms.