Christchurch council to probe Orana Wildlife Park finances

Friday, 24 May 2024

Lynn Anderson, chief executive of Orana Wildlife Park, says increased public funding is critical to meeting a funding shortfall that could lead to the park’s demise.

Orana Wildlife Park will have its finances reviewed, and may have its buildings inspected, following an anonymous letter to the Christchurch City Council.

Park chief executive Lynn Anderson refutes all of the self-described whistleblower’s complaints, describing it as sensational and defamatory.

In a letter directed to the council’s interim chief executive, Mary Richardson, sent on Tuesday, an anonymous park worker warned of high staff turnover and allegedly poor financial management.

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The Press understands the letter led to the council requesting an independent review into the park, however Richardson said the review was suggested as part of due diligence, as the park has requested up to $1.5 million in annual public funding.

Despite the plea for the council to intervene, Richardson said it had no desire to take over the park’s operations. The council is following up on the claims with the park directly, she said.

The whistleblower claims the costly rhino facility (which has the capacity for 20 rhino, but is home to just three) is an example of poor financial decision making. (File photo)

The letter arrived the same day councillors heard there is massive public support (almost 14% of all submissions to the council’s draft spending plan) for the park’s funding request.

Anderson has said increased public funding is critical to meeting a funding shortfall, and she feared the park’s “inevitable demise” without it (the council currently gives it $250,000 annually).

On Thursday, she said the letter’s contents could not be substantiated and was at a loss to explain why a staff member would want to damage the park’s reputation.

She said she hoped city councillors would approach the complaint objectively, as it was allegations from just one person, and not let it interfere with the decision to increase park funding.

Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park says it will need $1.5m in funding from the council every year if its to stave off an 'inevitable demise'. (First published April 16, 2024)

Speaking directly to The Press, the whistleblower said staff were grateful for the public and council’s support of the park, but park leadership needed to be held accountable.

They said they could not complain to park leadership directly because they were afraid of repercussions. They claimed there was a high staff turnover because people were unhappy (about one person resigned a month on average, despite zoo jobs being in high demand, they said).

Anderson said staff turnover was about 15%, which was not unusual for workplaces, and they have about 60 employees.

There were also allegations of animals being in poor health and unhappy, but Anderson denied this and said the claim was an insult to staff.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said there had been three animal welfare complaints about Orana Park since July 2018, but none were substantiated and the latest was February 2023.

Gray Harrison, MPI’s national manager of animal welfare and NAIT compliance, said an MPI verifier was on-site every three months and they had not raised specific animal welfare matters.

The complainant was also concerned with the park’s leadership investment priorities, claiming some buildings were insanitary or potentially dangerous, while big projects like the larger white rhino facility (which cost nearly four times the amount the park expected it would in 2018 - amounting to nearly $2m) wasn’t meeting expectations.

The new facility was built to increase rhino capacity from eight to 20. There are only three currently, but Anderson said more were on the way, and no-one would disagree the rhinos deserved an upgraded home.

Richardson said the council, which is responsible for inspecting potentially dangerous and insanitary buildings, is following up on this with the park.

The Press understands most city councillors were unaware of the whistleblower letter until a closed-door workshop on Thursday.

At Wednesday’s long-term plan workshop, mayor Phil Mauger recommended the council earmark $50,000 for an external party review into the park, similar to the one carried out on Ferrymead Heritage Park.

The Ferrymead review, completed in 2022, led to an internal review in 2023 that recommended an overhaul of the organisation's strategy and governance structure to access more council funding. Its board resigned en masse in March.

No decisions will be made until late June, but The Press understands the review is unlikely to begin until the next financial year (after July), and any substantive public funding may be subject to its findings.

John Filsel, the council’s head of community support and partnerships, told councillors on Wednesday that some savings and changes would be expected at Orana Park before it could look at long-term funding recommendations.

Anderson said the park was “squeaky clean” and welcomed any review. She said there was no fat to trim in their spending, and was sure a review would support that.

*CORRECTION: The original version of this article mixed the 2022 external Ferrymead Heritage Park review with the 2023 internal review. It was the internal review, completed by volunteers over hundreds of hours, which found there should be an overhaul. (Amended 3.05pm, May 24, 2024)