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Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House in Christchurch is your rare opportunity to explore the rich and fascinating world of the fish and the avian species. The giant aquarium features an amazing variety of New Zealand fish species # from rocky tidal-pool creatures to those from lakes, rivers and salt water. You can actually touch some of these creatures if you want to in the Touch Tank. Watch divers hand feed the giant eels or carpet sharks, cod, skates, and other rarely seen deepwater fish. The Kiwi House offers a glimpse of the kiwi, the national bird under the risk of being extinct.
Features of Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House in Christchurch
- Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House is located within the Cathedral Square at the heart of Christchurch.
- The aim is to conserve and endeavor to make people aware of the aquatic and terrestrial fauna that makes New Zealand so special.
- Southern Encounter is home to an amazing variety of animals and aims to educate the public about their fascinating life histories, their unique characteristics and the danger of their imminent extinction.
- You can watch the divers feed the fishes in the aquarium.
- This is where the larger sharks, rays and boney fish reside and it is really interesting to see the giant fishes having their meals.
- If you are lucky, you can catch a glimpse of the large seven gill shark visiting temporarily.
- This type of giant visitors is generally released back into the wild within 4-6 weeks of being caught.
- There is a touch tank where you can explore in a totally hands on environment the range of fishes found around the rocky shore.
- The Kiwi House enables people to view the rare and increasingly endangered North Island Brown kiwi.
- The Kiwi House features a reversed light cycle as the kiwis are nocturnal birds and generally only come out at night.
- The visitors generally view the aquarium for at least quarter of an hour before taking a tour of the Kiwi House to enable eyes to adjust to the lower light levels found inside.
- Kiwi tours are conducted on demand between 10 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. daily.
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