Zealandia

Before New Zealand was home to humans, chatty birds like the tui and kereru dominated the land’s lush green hills and valleys. But the arrival of invasive mammalian predators drove many native species to extinction. In the early 1990s, sanctuary founder Jim Lynch envisioned a pest-proof environment in the heart of Wellington. The result is Zealandia, a 500-acre area encircled by a mesh barrier that keeps out stoats, weasels and more; it’s the world’s first fully fenced urban eco-sanctuary. Since the mesh was erected in 1999, more than 20 species of native wildlife have been reintroduced, including the hihi, one of the country’s rarest birds. In February, Zealandia announced an important milestone: the birth of the sanctuary’s 1,000th hihi chick. The species, which was nearly extinct before reintroduction efforts began, is one of Zealandia’s success stories. —Ali Wunderman