Its official, Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve has changed its name once again and is now known as Shambala Animal Kingdom......... Just in case your wondering this is now the fourth name change in this zoos short life. I do have to ask why the name change and what a um interesting choice of name... 2003 - 2005 Mareeba Wild Animal Park 2005 - 2006 Out of Africa Reserve 2006 - 2012 Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve 2012 - ???? Shambala Animal Kingdom
the name changes with each ownership change, to try and make it "new" and attract new visitors. Shambala is a rather ugly name in my opinion, it just sounds harsh when you say it; perhaps there's a subconcious connection with the word "shambles" which makes it sound unpleasant in my mind. Of course there's also a "sanctuary" in America with the same name (Shambala Preserve), which I assume is unintentional.
And it's the name of Tippi Hedren's sanctuary in America too. Wouldn't one google names to make sure they wern't taken, thus making your place more unique?
When l google,Shambala Animal Kingdom, everything from DAK to this job add appears. SHAMBALA ANIMAL KINGDOM (formerly Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve) WILDLIFE/PARK MANAGER Extensive experience as a Wildlife Park Manager. Must have carnivore experience. Excellent communication skills & ability to think laterally. Call Elaine
that doesn't sound good, but if you take on a failing zoo you can't expect it to be all roses, and it has only been three months. Maybe to start with she should look at decreasing the number of lions which would cut the food bill a lot. Didn't they have 20-something lions there?
This sounds very like a couple of the smaller UK zoos(Dartmoor & Tenby spring to mind) that in the past few years have been taken over by people from other walks of life and without any prior zoo experience. I don't think they have any idea what they are letting themselves in for and are then surprised to find it is very much an uphill struggle.
just looking at their website (which isn't great and I don't know how up to date it is) and their food bill must be enormous with the number of carnivores they have there. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, bears, otters, rhino....it ticks all the ABC boxes apart for elephant, so really the only reason I can see for the zoo's poor performance has to be location. Its only $28 to get in so I wouldn't imagine the cost of entry would be putting people off visiting.
It is definitely the location. Although I haven't been to the park, I have driven past it a few years ago. Visitors to Cairns often make the trip to Kuranda, but the park is a fair way past that. And there are other wildlife park options much closer to Cairns. Hix
I think it was fairly close. the worst part is there is no public transport past kuranda and the majority of tourists up there use tour companies.
Tourism in North QLD is suffering, but what adds to their problem is that the tourism industry is for the most part commission sales. Their location knocks them out becouse to spend say 30-60 mins with a tourist in a booking shop, you don't want to send them away for the day with only one commission. You sell the train to Kuranda, Sky Rail back and then Aboriginal place or local zoo for the afternoon! that makes four commissions. And Kuranda is promoted as a Tableland experience ( not ) so people think they got that also. To bank on a small local population for a zoo is crazy and with the industry focused on international visitors, I don't think it's the place for showing exotic animals.
to add support to the above comments, it isn't far from Kuranda but there isn't any public transport to get there (as far as I'm aware), unlike to the attractions in Kuranda itself or to the other exotic zoo near there (the Cairns Tropical Zoo). I didn't go there for that very reason when I was in Cairns. That's what I was meaning when I meant location: its not near a major visitor base (Cairns isn't exactly big after all, and I doubt the majority of travellers to the area would choose a lion park over, say, reef snorkelling or patting a koala at Kuranda) and you need your own transport to get there. The other problem seems to be one of non-promotion. On the bottom of the story Jarkari linked to, there are several comments, one of which I read yesterday said (paraphrasing) that nobody knows about it, and the only time you hear a media story is when its in financial trouble! They don't seem to be doing much in the way of tourist or local promotion. it is very difficult indeed to get around the area by public transport, and the whole tourist industry up there appears to be based around backpackers on tour buses. The obvious plan of attack for Shambala should be to try and get a deal with one or more tour bus companies to include the zoo in their itinerary.
The food bill is nonexistent, they receive donations of steggles chicken as well as fruit and vegetable from IGA and Coles, they were in the process of sourcing horse or beef recently after the new ownership, I am unsure where the hay was sourced from but I expect donated as well. According to one of the keepers their lions have been bred to such extent that new genes are necessary for future breeding, with 2 separate bachelor groups and the remaining males in the big pride either have vasectomies or are castrated (maneless males). The Sumatran tigers (female is hybrid according to keeper?) could possibly pair and have bred previously. I believe as a lawyer the new owner should not be trying to manage this facility but rather continue practicing law and utilize that income to fund hiring someone with experience and a realistic understanding of zoo management, as well as other funding towards the zoo. Instead of cooking breakfast for patrons... I sincerely wish Shambala success and hope they can rectify the zoo from it's current situation for the benefit of the animals housed there. I had an interesting visit there and was quite surprised talking to the different employees. Best of luck Elaine!
@crocodile dan, the food bill does exist, beef & horse is bought weekly & the hay is not donated, so its very pricey. As a member of ZAA, they don't make the decisions on breeding, they just follow recommendations & the bachelor prides will be moved on but again when space is allocated by ZAA so breeding is on hold, cubs are cute but they grow up & consideration is needed on housing them for their lives. Its easy to speculate how best to run the zoo but its easier said than done! Whilst it may be financially struggling, the animals have never felt any struggle & are very well looked after.
