Have you ever wondered where all the food for Wellington Zoo's 500 animals come from? The answer might surprise you... Gianina Schwanecke meets with the zoo's animal science manager to find out more and joins a group of otters for dinner.

Imagine trying to feed a horde of 500 animals on less than 15-hectares of land.

Now imagine, if each of those animals required specialised diets. From the carnivorous meat eaters, to the plant-loving herbivores, mixed-tastes omnivores and seafood-loving piscivores.

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Tucked into the hills surrounding the city's suburbs, Wellington Zoo is home to more than 500 animals comprising close to 70 species. They include lions, tigers, giraffes, lemurs, lizards, insects, native birds, red panda and otters.

It's a challenging task catering to so many different dietary needs. Overseeing the zoo's nutrition team, is animal science manager Simon Eyre.

"Every animal has a very, very different diet. From the stick insects that only eat Eucalyptus browse, to the tigers and lions that eat meat, to the meerkats which have a very very different diet to our otters," Eyre says.

A second-generation zookeeper, he's spent 20 of the last 30 years working at Wellington Zoo.

The nutrition team starts most days at 7.30am alternating between preparing food for that morning - things like cooked eggs or cooked potato - and prepping meals for other days. They process between half a tonne to a tonne of animal feed each week.

"We use a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, they come from the same suppliers that your cafes and restaurants would get them from. We get the same food you do."

"Because the food is as fresh as you get, if not fresher, it actually keeps really well," Eyre explains.

Inside the freezer, there are buckets filled with pre-prepared meals, a label on the lid telling the keeper which animal it's for.

The zoo's otters are fed five to six times a day due to their high metabolism.

Rows of crates filled with supermarket-grade fruit and vegetables line its shelves. The freezer will be topped up with three pallets worth of produce each week, and emptied out about twice a week.

"The welfare of our animals is paramount. We should not be feeding them sub-par food so they get just as good as you do."

Meat for carnivores like the lions and tigers is sourced from the South Island, and stored in a separate freezer.

Much of the fresh produce is sourced from the same providers that stock our restaurants and supermarkets…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details