The ever promised ramp has at last been installed into the corner of the pond where most of the ducklings seem to have trouble during stormy weather. It is obviously a well thought out design and well constructed. Although it is not yet tried and tested, it appears that it will provide a way out of high seas for water logged ducklings. The WACC and many concerned would like to thank the staff at Te Papa , in particular Steve Brady, we understand it has not been an easy time for staff and appreciate their dedication in continuing with this task to have it completed for the Spring.

September 2009

There is still no ramp in the Te Papa ponds. Whilst museum staff are communicating the progress with us, the timeline appears to be getting longer and longer....and here we are in spring, with spring storms approaching and no ramp to provide a refuge for the ducklings. The last advice we received was tha the ramp would be finished for the 18th of September 2009. If you have been following this progress, or are interested in the welfare of the ducklings, to ensure this ramp is installed and ready to help the ducklings this spring, please write you encouragement to steveb@tepapa.govt.nz

June 2009

Great News!! Te Papa has finally taken steps to resolve this inhumane and ugly public relations issue. After being mentioned on Access Radio's 'Animal Rights and Wrongs program and Ed's letter to the Wellington city council, Te Papa have finally decided to act. They have advised that they would be looking into it, and finally early in the month meeting with Ed and other concerned parties to discuss a draft plan for the ramp. This is indeed great news and a commendable decision on the part of Te Papa. With these talks and plans drawn up, it is hoped that by the end of July 2009 a ramp will be in place.

May 2009

Spring is fast approaching again, at a loss with how to communicate the urgent nature of the situation to Te Papa management, Ed has written to the council. As sponsors of the museum it is hoped that they may understand and be able to help us get a better response from Te Papa management. Debra Ashton from Access Radio's 'Animal Rights and Wrongs' programme has also mentioned the situation on the show and a larger awareness is starting to spread. (Read Ed's letter to Iona Pannett here).

February 2008

Our battle to get Te Papa to do something to help the ducklings continues without result.

December 2008

Communications with Te Papa continue, with as yet little progress for the ducklings. Ed and Jim are being as helpful as possible with the staff to help them introduce non-lethal controls on the duck population to reduce their breeding rate. At this point it has been agreed that museum staff with spike the majority of each egg hatch they find, so that most of them will not develop, but a few will and the mother duck will be kept busy raising less ducklings.

But Te Papa is still unmoved to try and help the ducklings. Steve Brady said in one of his emails "We are leaving open the option of a ledge until next year in order to evaluate how the other initiatives are working" proving to us that they do not understand the issue and have little regard for the way the ducklings are suffering before they eventually drown. We felt forced to seek more publicity for this issue. Debra Ashton from Access Radio bought it up on the 'Animal Rights and Wrongs' programme, and we issued a press release, although it was not picked up. Similar situations occur in different places and it is accepted that the unnatural water bodies are responsible for the drownings, see the article below from the Christchurch Press about a fountain. We are at a loss as to why Te Papa will not address this, and appalled at their lack of compassion.

Our Press Release - Article about a similar situation in the Christchurch Press

November 2008

We first noticed that ducklings were drowning in more than natural numbers, when Ed saw Te Papa staff removing drowned ducklings and relocating the remaining ones to the external beach. At the time he enquired about the cause but they were not forthcoming. On subsequent visits to the ponds he noticed the same things, particularly after high weather. He talked to Te Papa officers and to people from SAFE and the SPCA and the consensus was that the high weather was trapping the ducklings in areas of the pond that they could not escape from; hence they became saturated and cold and died. Ed set up meetings with Te Papa management to discuss the issue, and they assigned their public relations manager, Steve Brady, to the discussions.

Jim O'Malley, an officer from the Lower Hutt city council, also joined the meetings as well as some other concerned members of the public; however the reluctance to address the issue at all was a surprise. Even though we offered to install a ramp or climbing material in the appropriate places, free of any cost (which would not be more than $100 anyway) Te Papa refused to budge. Instead they initiated talks about controlling the duck population and ways to solve their perceived issues with the ducks. We were happy to help them with that, but no matter how we tried, they refused to understand that the duck population and the ducklings drowning were two different issues and they had a moral obligation to address this issue immediately.

Summary (November 2008)

Our national museum, Te Papa, is shirking responsibility for the many ducklings that are drowning in their artificial ponds. By creating these landscaped water features around the museum, they have created an ideal habitat for the local Mallard ducks. Although there have been architectural attempts to dissuade wildlife, by chemically treating the water and reducing natural food resources, the ducks nevertheless find it sufficient to set up residence there and even breed quite well in the area.

The ponds are artificial; they have a concrete base and vertical concrete sides and right angled corners in places. In certain places, when the weather is stormy and the water is choppy, the baby ducklings get trapped against the corners and walls, not able to find a way out. Because they are very young and not fully feathered or water-proofed, they slowly get saturated and become water-logged, they get very tired and cold and they drown.

Photo©Rebecca Robinson 2009