Kula WILD Adventure Park is Fiji's biggest Family Fun Park and an ecological preserve in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. It is located on Fiji's largest island,

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian P ...

, near

Sigatoka Sigatoka ( ) is a town in Fiji. It is on the island of Viti Levu at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, for which it is named, some 61 kilometres from Nadi. Its population at the 2017 census was 17,622. It is the principal urban centre for the pr ...

. The area was originally established as a bird park in the 1980s, but was bought by ''Kula Management'' in January 1997. With an extensive system of walkways through the park, and a wide range of attractions, the park is now a popular

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

About the park

The park is privately owned and operated. Its main focus is on providing fun rides and attractions for every member of the family. It is also active in the preservation of Fiji's indigenous

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, including

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s, bird life,

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

tropical fish Tropical fish are generally those fish found in aquatic tropical environments around the world. Fishkeepers often keep tropical fish in freshwater and saltwater aquariums. The term "tropical fish" is not a taxonomic group, but rather is a gene ...

, the Fiji flying fox (Fiji's only native mammal),

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and a wide range of trees and shrubs. The park has also won Fiji's 'Excellence in Tourism' award five times since 1996. In addition, the park strives to increase environmental issue awareness and educate local children in conservation. The park regularly offers free classes in which children may learn about Fiji's environment, pollution, and conservation. More than 8000 children have taken these classes.

History

In 1998, 140 flora species were cataloged in a joint project between Kula Eco Park, the National Trust of Fiji, the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales, and the Zoo Friends of Taronga Zoo. The park has established a captive breeding program for the critically endangered

Fiji crested iguana The Fiji crested iguana or Fijian crested iguana (''Brachylophus vitiensis'') is a critically endangered species of iguanidae, iguana native to some of the northwestern islands of the Fijiian archipelago, where it is found in tropical dry forest, ...

and

Fiji banded iguana ''Brachylophus bulabula'', commonly known as the Central Fijian Banded Iguana is a species of iguanid lizard endemic to some of the larger central and northwestern islands of Fiji ( Ovalau, Kadavu and Viti Levu), where it occurs in Fijian wet ...

. In 2004, the park achieved two milestones with the world's first captive birth of a Kadavu musk parrot and the park's first birth of a

Pacific black duck The Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa''), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the no ...

. In 2007, (in cooperation with the ''Biological Sciences Division'' at the ''

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...

'') the park commenced a captive breeding program for the endangered

Fiji ground frog ''Cornufer vitianus'', commonly known as Fiji ground frog or Viti wrinkled ground frog, is a species of frog in the family Ceratobatrachidae. It is endemic to Fiji. Presumed to be originally a forest species, it is nowadays also found in a range ...

Partners

Kula Eco Park works with a number of organizations to support Fiji and wildlife. They include the National Trust of Fiji, the Endangered Species Recovery Council of San Diego, and the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales. Kula Eco Park is an honorary associate of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia.

References

External links

Kula WILD Adventure Park
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 Environment of Fiji Parks in Fiji Nature reserves Bird parks