Curio's campers beware of wildlife

Camping at Curio Bay in the South Catlins, one of New Zealand’s rugged and wildlife-rich coastal regions, attracts a variety of visitors but not all appear to be taking notice of the local signs.

While many drive to the idyllic holiday park at Curio Bay near the most southern point of New Zealand, others arrive by water and it’s the marine visitors who are creating all the attention.

Not only can they not read, but they’re also overstepping the mark in campground ethics and happy campers of the human variety are being asked to be wary.

Rare species
Seals and sea lions, Hector’s dolphins and yellow-eyed penguins are all regulars to Curio Bay and nearby Porpoise Bay in The Catlins, and sharing the unspoilt coastal environment with these rare New Zealand species attracts visitors from all over the world.

But camping side-by-side with the wildlife has its share of interesting experiences, and demands mutual respect from both humans and animals.

Finding a sea lion lying on your tent is just one of the experiences that’s confronted visitors to Curio Bay Holiday Park - a unique facility that also sits on the edge of a 170-million-year-old Jurassic petrified forest.

While such antics prompt a lot of public interest they also encourage inappropriate behaviour from fascinated visitors who’ve sometimes approached management requesting to ride one of the sea lions.

Education programme
Now an education programme has been developed to encourage visitors to beware of the sea lions, and Curio Bay Holiday Park has recently erected warning signs to reinforce the message.

The holiday park, the South Catlins Development and Environmental Trust and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have been working together to tell people how to behave around the animals and volunteer wardens will be at the camping ground this summer to assist the education programme.

While on a serious mission, the authorities have been amused by the reaction of one sea lion that has openly ignored the warning and been photographed right beside the sign, apparently turning up his nose at the message.

And although the sea lion’s cheeky behaviour has attracted attention, Val Whyte of Curio Bay Holiday Park says it’s also a chance to reinforce the message that sea lions are not just cute and harmless playthings there to entertain visitors.

"These are wild and endangered animals and should not be patted or approached too closely. They just do their own thing and are very curious - they are a part of the natural area," she said.

DOC guidelines
DOC says sea lions are very charismatic but should be treated with respect and enjoyed from a distance without interference.

• Simple guidelines to be followed when watching sea lions include:
• observe the sea lion quietly
• always keep dogs and small children well away
• avoid getting nearer than 20 metres
• do not touch the animal under any circumstance
• do not feed them.

The wildlife found in the Catlins area are featured in New Zealand’s ‘small five’ promotion of rare species.