02/11/2026
Auckland Zoo says protect nature, forego fireworks!
For wildlife, pets, and animals in zoos like ours, the loud noise and unpredictability of fireworks can be terrifying and have serious, even fatal, consequences.
It’s why our zookeepers, veterinary team, and Zoo whānau are asking people to forego letting off fireworks this Guy Fawkes and at all times… and instead attend planned, publicly organised displays.
“We’re in the height of bird breeding season, and fireworks being let off randomly day and night can cause terrified birds to abandon their nests, and sometimes fatally injure themselves, which we’re sure nobody wants to happen,” says our curator of birds, Dr Juan Cornejo.
Kororā/little penguins are breeding along our coasts here in Tāmaki Makaurau, and as our video shows they’re currently breeding here at the Zoo. We also have other threatened endemic manu like pāteke and tīeke, and a number of non-native species that are breeding as well.
In other areas of the Zoo, species like giraffe and nyala are particularly sensitive to sudden bright lights and loud noises like fireworks in their environment, and they can trigger kangaroo’s flight-or-fight response, which is why our team implement what precautions they can each year.
Like our colleagues at Auckland Council, the NZ Veterinary Association (who every year see horses badly injured) and SPCA, Auckland Zoo has for years been calling on the Government to ban the public sale of fireworks for private use.
Click the link in our comments to read more.
