Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery (CETWR) is a unique experience, giving New Zealanders and international visitors a rare opportunity to engage with the stewardship of our native taonga. There’s nothing else quite like it in Aotearoa. Located at Palmerston North’s Victoria Esplanade, CETWR comprises breeding and inflight walkthrough aviaries and nine rehabilitation aviaries, surrounding the PowerCo Education Centre. Wildbase Hospital veterinary wildlife specialists are onsite to rehabilitate ill or injured birds before they’re released back into the wild. Visitors can watch the vets in action and learn the story of each bird – its injuries, treatment, and recovery.
The Be a Vet: Kererū Surgery game enables children to experience hands-on the challenges faced, and of the dual roles of Vet Surgeon and Vet Anesthetist when operating on injured native species. Kererū are the second most common bird admitted to Wildbase hospital, usually with impact wounds incurred by hitting windows or cars and fracturing the corocoid breast-bone. The Be a Vet: Kererū Surgery game is a tangible game with two roles. The surgeon who needs to use skill and dexterity to remove and replace the coracoid bone, and the Anaesthetist who must keep two tasks in rhythm as they keep the lungs inflating and the heart beating at the correct rate. The patient is a plushy Kererū, constructed over a fabricated body reminiscent of the 80’s operation game. Using the metal tweezers the “Surgeon” player needs to be mindful not to touch any other bones in case the buzzer sounds. They use a second tool to zip up the body when surgery is completed. The anesthetist player has the challenge of maintaining two roles at once, similar to patting your head and rubbing your tummy. If the player loses the heart rate rhythm the buzzer sounds, and if they pump too much air into the balloon lungs this can be problematic for the surgeon’s delicate task.
This game requires children to work collaboratively and understand through simplified play the nuanced complexities of the role of the vet and anesthetist within the surgery. The game is digitally fabricated using laser machined acrylic and 3D printed components. All digital circuits are controlled by an arduino microprocessor. Replacement parts can be easily created and installed to compensate for wear from heavy use. The Be a Vet : kererū Surgery game is located at the “Be a Wildbase Vet” activity table. All instructional information for the game is represented in both english and Te Reo Māori. The Kererū Surgery game is the most popular game at Wildbase. In 6 months 42,000 visitors have passed through their Central Energy Trust WildBase Recovery (CETWR) – roughly 250 people per day. 45 school groups have booked a visit – equating to 2,119 young people learning vital conversation knowledge about our taonga and unique natural world, and the roles of the Vets who care for them.
