Willowbank also holds the only pair of takahē on display in the South Island of New Zealand outside a Department of Conservation facility.

As Willis became more interested in animal conservation, the park began to incorporate more native species and rare farmyard breeds.

[6][7] In addition to a normal outdoor habitat, Willowbank features a nocturnal viewing house for kiwi, allowing guests to see them during the day.

A waterway in the middle of the park is home to large New Zealand longfin eels, which visitors can touch and feed.

One study[10] looked at their intelligence, with one co-author of the paper describing their ability to draw statistical inferences as "unprecedented" in birds.

The exotics section houses international species including blue and gold macaws, scarlett macaws, capuchin monkeys, capybara, small-clawed otter, ring-tailed lemurs, black-and-white ruffed lemur, star tortoise, leopard tortoise and green iguana.