''The Zoo'' is a New Zealand

observational documentary A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

series, made by

Greenstone TV Greenstone TV (or simply Greenstone) is a New Zealand-based television production company who produce factual, entertainment, drama and documentary television programs. Productions have been made for TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2, Three and Prime in New Zealand ...

, that follows the lives of

Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo is a zoological garden in Auckland, New Zealand, situated next to Western Springs Park not far from Auckland's central business district. It is run by the Auckland Council with the Zoological Society of Auckland as a supporting ...

's animals and

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

s. The series explores the new arrivals and births of Auckland Zoo, to the fights, illnesses and mating rituals, how the animals are fed and how they live. The series' production crew are based full-time at the zoo, but the series also follows zookeepers overseas on zoo-related trips. ''The Zoo'' returned to New Zealand's TV One in 2013 for its 13th season. In the UK, it airs on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

Zoo staff

Season 12 staff stars

*Christine Tintinger - Senior

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

keeper *Amy Robbins - Team Leader of Primates *Nat Sullivan - Team Leader of Pridelands *Andrew Coers - Team Leader of Elephants and Sea Lions *Bethany Jackson - Vet-in-residence *Richard Gibson - Team Leader of Reptiles and

Invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

*Natalie Clark - NZ Birds Keeper

Main staff stars

*Sandra Rice - Senior Carnivore keeper *Carly Day - Primate keeper *Laurel Sandy - Elephant & Sea Lion keeper *Richard Gibson- Team leader of reptiles and invertebrates *Rickard Jakob Hoff - Senior Veterinarian - Conservation and Research *John Potter - Senior Veterinarian

Former staff stars

Zoo keepers who have previously starred on the show. *Trent Barclay - Senior Carnivore keeper (departed Auckland Zoo) *Maria Barclay - Senior Vet nurse (departed Auckland Zoo) *Sam Stephens - Senior Pridelands keeper (now working at Hamilton Zoo, appears on Wild Vets) *Mike Harvey - Keeper *Tania Crook - Keeper *Brooke Noonan - Curator *Maria Finnagan - Curator

Animals

Current animal stars (series 12)

*Oz (

Sumatran tiger The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. Sequences from complete mitochon ...

) *Molek (Sumatran tiger) *Berani (Sumatran tiger) *Doris (

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

) *Osiris (

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

) *Anubis (cheetah) *Janie (

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

) *Burma (

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

) *Kaioko (

fur seal Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family '' Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), relatively lon ...

) *Moana (fur seal) *Orua (fur seal) *Atamai (fur seal) *Jelani (

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

) *Zubulu (giraffe) *Rukiya (giraffe) *Kiraka (giraffe) *Nakuru (giraffe) *Faith (

hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

) *Fudge (hippo) *Maya (

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

) *Mosi (

meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

) *Shiloh (

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

) *Charlie (

orang-utan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ' ...

) *Melur (orang-utan) *Madju (orang-utan) *Wanita (orang-utan)

Former animal stars

*Snorkel (hippo)- euthanized 1 October 2010 *Kashin (elephant) - euthanized 24th Aug 2009 *Nisha (sumatran tiger) - *eta deceased May 12, 2006 *Hari (

Asiatic golden cat The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by poac ...

) - departed Auckland Zoo *Hoi-An (Asiatic golden Cat) - departed Auckland Zoo *Saigon (Asiatic golden Cat) - departed Auckland Zoo *Indra (25-year-old Bornean orangutan) - departed Auckland Zoo

Seasons

Season 1 (1999)

The premiere season of ''The Zoo''.

2004

This season premiered on TV2 on Sunday 5 September.

Season 8 (2006)

Season 9 (2007)

Season 10 (2008)

This series aired on TV2.

Season 11 (2010)

Season 12 (2012)

Premiered on Sunday 29 July 2012. Currently airs on TV One at 7pm on Sundays.

Specials

Zoo Babies (2002)

This 1-hour ''The Zoo'' special takes a look at pregnancy, birth and infancy at Auckland Zoo. Explores the successes and failures of trying to breed giraffes, lions, orang-utans, tigers, pink flamingos and the native New Zealand tuatara.

Zoo Babies 2: Raising Baby Iwani (2005)

The story of Baby Iwani, the siamang gibbon, who was rejected by his mother and 'adopted' by zookeeper Christine Tintinger. This 60-minute special leads up to the day Christine has to give him back to Mum.

Spin-off series

''Two By Two At The Zoo'' (2005)

''Two By Two At The Zoo'' is a series made up of ten episodes of specials from ''The Zoo'' series. ''Two By Two At The Zoo'' explores Auckland Zoo's favourite animals and the keepers who care for them.

Episodes

*Episode 1: Red Panda babies *Episode 2: Treating Kashin *Episode 3: Rhino enclosure *Episode 4: tea party chimps *Episode 5: Kiwi Breeding Programme *Episode 6: Kura the Cub of Lion Hill *Episode 7: Emergency care for Siamang Gibbon twin babies *Episode 8: Entertaining a Tiger *Episode 9: Iwani the Siamang Gibbon reuniting with his parents *Episode 10: Hippos changing homes

''Trent's Wildcat Adventures'' (2006)

Popular Auckland Zoo zookeeper Trent Barclay has a passion for wild cats. In this series of ten episodes, Trent travels to South Africa to encounter wild cats up close and personal in their natural African habitat.

''The Zoo: This Is Your Life'' (2008)

''The Zoo'' spin-off series, ''The Zoo: This Is Your Life'', celebrates five special Auckland Zoo animals. The series follows Indra the orangtan, Kashin the elephant, Kura the lioness, Zabulu the giraffe and Kito the rhino. It features archive video footage and photos, and interviews current and former keepers. All stories feature highs and lows including births and traumatic deaths, stressful journeys, life-threatening illness and daring escapes.

Episodes

DVD releases

*Best Of The Zoo: Highlights 1, 2, 3 *Best Of The Zoo 2: Highlights 4, 5, 6 *Best Of The Zoo 3: Highlights 7, 8, 9 *Best of The Zoo 4: The Complete Series 10 (2011) *Best of The Zoo 2012: Series 12 (2012) *Best of the Zoo: Box Set - Highlights from Series 1 - 9; Zoo Babies & Raising Baby Iwani *Zoo Babies & Raising Baby Iwani *The Zoo: This Is Your Life

Awards

Qantas Media Awards

*Winner (2004): Best Information Programme *Winner (2001): Finalist *Winner (2000): Finalist

NZ TV Awards

*Winner (2001): Most Popular Family Programme

TV Guide 'Best on the Box'

*Winner (2007): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2006): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2005): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2004): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2003): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2002): Favourite Documentary Series *Winner (2001): Favourite Documentary Series

References

External links

TVNZ Official Zoo webpageAuckland Zoo website
The Zoo TV Show {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoo, The Television series about mammals New Zealand documentary television series TVNZ original programming Television series by Greenstone TV