Start your own zoo

We have about 300 acres of empty timber land. Valley land with mixed hardwoods/pulpwood, a few ponds, some grassy areas. If I ever win the Lottery my plan would be to build say an 8 foot perimeter fence and exhibit hoofstock.

While I do hunt this would not be a hunting ranch.

 

Would you have an area where visitors could walk around with some of them? I'm not saying the whole zoo has to be this way. Like for example you could have a part where visitors could walk through a deer forest (I know a place that allows this). Obviously this couldn't happen with something really big like bison or elk, etc. But it might be a real draw.

 

Start Small

Small, i would start small with enough land to be bigger if finances permitted.
Also, have native or local species who are in need of rescue.Exotic species would come later.I have volunteered at both zoo facilities with local and exotic species both zoo's are doing well.

 

If I had money I would start a small carnivore breeding and education center. Mostly small cats but also some canids and mustelids. Try to get a few new ones in the USA also. I just heard a zoo worker from the UAE at a conference and he said they have Blanford's foxes they could export if anyone in the USA was interested. I also had a private discussion with a carnivore export who said flat headed cats are starting in captivity in Asia and could potentially go to the USA if anyone was interested (which apparently no one is).

My facility would have a large entry building that would be a museum and education/conservation center and gift shop (and maybe café) that would be free admission to all. The animal habitats would be behind that and be open to members only. The reason would be to keep the crowds small and well behaved to allow for breeding of sensitive species.

 

I am beginning to build my dream zoo in Zoo Tycoon 2. I have modded so much, it isn't even funny (90% modded stuff, no joke).

I will call it "Damon Park Zoo" (I'll give you mad props if you get this reference within six seconds).

It will start with an area called "Jolly Farm", with the basic farm animals such as potbelly pigs, llamas, Border Leicester sheep, wild turkeys, chickens, donkeys, pygmy goats, guinea pigs, Chillingham cattle, and Pembroke Welsh corgis.

The second area will be called "Sacred Egypt", with Hamadryas baboons, Nile crocodiles, Northern bald ibises, Greater flamingos, fennec foxes, striped hyenas, lions, hippos, and other animals often featured in Egyptian mythology.

The third area will be called "Wild Western World", with Gila monsters, pronghorns, great grey owls, American bison, gray wolves, grizzly bears, moose, rattlesnakes, coyotes, roadrunners, bald eagles, mule deer, Canadian lynx, and nine-banded armadillos.

The fourth area will be "Crikey!" with numbats, kakapo, kiwi birds, koalas, kangaroos, emus, Tasmanian devils, kookaburras, platypus, and wombats, along with dromedary camels nearby, in a standalone enclosure.

The fifth area is "Zen Mountain", with snow leopards, markhor, yaks, red pandas, Siberian tigers, Japanese macaques, and will be near four lone exhibits featuring Komodo dragons and Asian elephants, Przewalski's wild horses, and Indian peafowl.

The sixth area will be called "Deep Jungle", and will have maned sloths, okapis, giant anteaters, fossa, bongos, orangutans, jaguars, Malayan tapirs, babirusa, aye-ayes, coati, mandrills, hyacinth macaws, plumed basilisks, and Indian rhinos.

And if I have room, I will add a seventh area called "Wonders of the Sea", with green sea turtles, marine iguanas, whale sharks, emperor penguins, California sea lions, manta rays, pelagic sea snakes, blue marlins, great barracudas, leafy sea dragons, polar bears, and blue fin tuna.


Also, if you can get the name references for areas 1, 4, and 6, you will have even more automatic respect from me.

 

This is all hypothetical mind you,but if I were to run a zoo I'd prefer something larger in size. Immersion is a huge thing I'd love to have,kind of like how in Disneyland you can't see much of other lands from the land you're in,I'd love for my zoo to embrace that. For example,I don't want visitors to just keep walking in a row of boring paddocks until they get to the next area. I'd much prefer they (for example) cross a bridge over a stream onto a pathway completely surrounded by bamboo on both sides,and as they keep walking they find an exhibit for an Asian species,like Sichuan Takin. That brings me onto my next must-have. I would love for my exhibits to be made completely of endangered species the average person has never heard of,that would be awesome,but it just isn't plausible. My ideal exhibit would be one or two charismatic species everyone knows next to exhibits for species most wouldn't know existed. For example,an African forest exhibit with Gorillas as the centerpiece, but next to that exhibit would be,say,an exhibit for Okapi. I'd also love vibrant interesting signage talking about where the species is from on a semi-specific level (like naming specific countries where it's found,such as Democratic Republic of the Congo instead of Africa for an Okapi),conservation status,eating behaviors(omnivore,carnivore,insectivore and so on), and a picture of the animal so guests will know what to look for,as some species can be hard to spot in dense foliage or in dens.

 

I would love to see a zoo like that. I like the primary focus on endangered species but a few charismatic non-endangered species mixed in with endangered ones works well. Sadly, there are quite a few endangered subspecies of charismatic ones that could be exhibited (ie Rothschild's giraffes instead of reticulated ones).