Wellington Zoo is only ten minutes drive from the central city. It is right next to Newtown Park, and parking is available both at Newtown Park and outside the zoo itself. There are two bus routes that stop directly outside the zoo, the No 10 to Newtown Park, and the No23 to Southgate. These buses leave the Wellington Railway Station and travel through the centre of the city before going past the hospital to the zoo.
Buses go past the zoo at least every half hour.
Opening hours are 9.30am to 5.00pm daily. The Nocturnal House is open daily from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Originally a recreational park and gardens, in 1906 it was given its first large animal, a young ex-circus lion named King Dick. More animals followed, and by 1912 there were over 500 residents at the Zoo, including bears, leopards, a wide variety of birds and deer, and a small collection of monkeys. Kamala, Wellington Zoo's third and most remembered elephant, arrived in 1953.