Like most other businesses in the resort, the Kiwi Birdlife Park on Brecon St has taken a hit from Covid-19.
Park head Paul Kavanagh said his wildlife sanctuary would have a harder time than most staying open.
“Basically, the big thing for us is that we do have additional costs that no-one else in town does.
"We’ve got 100 endangered animals to look after and care for.”
The park has applied for two avenues of funding.
The first, submitted several weeks ago, is for a piece of the Government’s $400 million tourism sector recovery package — the Strategic Tourism Assets Protections Programme.
The second is for a slice of Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage’s announced $15million funding package for wildlife institutions affected by the pandemic.
“I am optimistic we will get something, it’s just we’ve no indicators of what level it will be.”
The park is examining every possible avenue of support and is even running its own fundraising drives and events, including a regular quiz night.
Despite the challenges, community support for the park has been overwhelming, Mr Kavanagh said.
In June, the park operated on donations only, a move that was purely about raising awareness, publicity and support.
“So we are really happy with how it went and I guess we are just trying to lay the foundations for going forward when visitors start to come back in.”
“We are really proud of how far we have come in our 34 years and we just want to keep fighting and keep improving and keep progressing.
"But we will need as much support as we can to get through these next few years.”
The park expected to hear about the funding sometime in late August.
The Strategic Tourism Assets Protections Programme is designed to protect assets in the tourism sector that are nationally or regionally vital to New Zealand’s tourism offerings.
The assets must be culturally and historically important and have significant spillover benefits to the region in which it is located.
