Willowbank Wildlife Reserve Day Entry

This sanctuary was wonderful. No negatives. Just delightful.

Visited on a long weekend. The carpark was full. Easy parking available on the street. Friendly staff. The park is a great place to visit and enjoy walking in nature. Plenty of animals and birds. The paths and tracks were easy to follow. Options to feed some animals. Playground area and picnic area. The cafe had lots of options and good service.

Everything was amazing. Everything in the reserve show great care from the manager and staffs to each animal. Good to see that.

I'm surprised by the reviews of this reserve. We had time to spare before flying out of Christchurch and decided to go here based on the reviews. When we got there, we discovered it's a glorified petting zoo. I found it distressing to see animals race, such as eels, otters, and sheep, to get to where the railings were to get food from visitors that they had purchased at the entry. While the animals looked healthy, there was just something about the vibe that my traveling companions and I didn't care for, and we were happy to leave quickly.

Great private tour into the endemic species to learn more about kiwis, keas, tuis and more

An amazing experience with easy to walk paths with clear direction to follow. Lots to see and good post boards telling us about the animals and birds.

We’ve visited a few wildlife experiences like this over the past 10 years in Australia, and there were definitely some highlights here. The animal feeding was great, especially the eels, and it was exciting to have the chance to see kiwi. That said, the kiwi experience itself was a bit underwhelming. Although we were told we saw two, it was so difficult to make them out that we honestly weren’t sure if we were looking at a kiwi or something else (at one point we joked it could’ve been a chicken with a straw on its head!). We understand the importance of low lighting for nocturnal animals, but slightly improved visibility would make a big difference to the experience. Overall, it was okay, but in hindsight we probably could have skipped it. Our son is 13 now, so it may just be that we’ve outgrown this type of activity. For the price, it didn’t quite meet expectations.

Very informative guided tour. Loved the grounds and the fact the trails all lead to something interesting! Perfect for all age groups!

A small but very well curated exhibition incorporating features of a zoo and a conservation program. I was particularly excited to have the chance to see a kiwi. But the other exhibits were also good. Very kid friendly — I saw a number of small children that seemed to be having a great time.

Very nice wildlife zoo. I wouldn't call it a reserve - too small and condensed for that. They do, however, do research and rescue work. They have a good variety (especially birds) and the animals seemed very healthy. Great way to see a Kia if you haven't seen one in the wild. At a little over $20 a person it was well worth it. The kids we saw seemed to be having a good time, too.