Owlcatraz Native Bird and Wildlife Park

Ross and Janette Campbell

A: Main Road South (SH57) Shannon

T: 06 362 7872

E: owlcatraz@xtra.co.nz
W: www.owlcatraz.co.nz

Open daily for guided tours anytime between 10am to 3pm

Entry: $5 to $25 

"The main thing we want people to know is that we are open," says the nature park's founder, Ross Campbell.  Storm damage 18 months ago closed it for two months. With 3,500 new plantings, the renewed place is shinier.

Sited at the edge of Shannon, Owlcatraz is a wonderful mixture of Fact, Fantasy and Fun. Curious about nature? Ask Ross or Don - the park's top guide. The owl house and the man-made glow worm cave established Ross as a habitat expert in temperature and lighting control. Breeding programmes for the North Island Weka and owls require other knowledge.

Owls with names like Owlton John and Owlvis Presley, and ostriches called Wind and Storm, are a dead giveaway the place serves up a sense of humour.  You want to know a real owlcoholic - check out part of the 1,500 collection of owl memorabilia housed in Ye Olde Shannon Jailhouse.

If the fascinating jailhouse tale of the first policeman killed on duty is too gruesome, you can pop out to the children's zoo to pet the rabbits and guinea pigs. Kids love Thomas the Tank Engine when he makes a lolly shop stop.

The bush walk takes you over quaint wooden bridges past a water wheel to a lake with flocks of water birds and eels to feed. You can pat the donkey, be amazed by the size of Big Snow the steer, and of course there are pigs and deer and they all have memorable names that will remain with you forever.