Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve staff going without pay so lions don't go hungry

Thanks, gretak25.

25 lions that is allot to feed!

 

Maybe CWSR could off load a few to Australia zoo for their up-coming African exhibit?

 

In the not so distant past,another famous ZAA member collection had this exact same problem on more than one occasion and as I was on the receiving end of the dilemma,I can understand the pressures applied to a private zoo as opposed to the luxury of State run zoo's.Just the same it is the zoo director/manager's responsibility to ensure the budget is managed all year round.Two cents worth exactly.

 

CWSR is now for sale.

 

So the torture walk for the animals of the only safari park in the north of Queensland goes on. In the present economic climate, will there be many interested, especially in a place with a business history like this?

 

This could well be a problem. All I can hope is that the current owners will take the time to evaluate any potential buyers for their experince and not just sell to the wealthiest person that comes along.

 

Fair go, Baldur.

There's no suggestion of torture involved here. Please don't mis-judge the owner's commitment to caring for her animals - even at the expense of her staff as we have seen recently.

I don't doubt that the animals are being very well looked after.

Who knows if and/or when the place will sell. It is not the only zoo in North Queensland that is having a tough trot.

 

Torture was a too strong word, and if only I had given myself time to think when I wrote this (I was focusing on something else actually) I would have phrased it differently, 'uncertainity' would have been a better word. I'm most sorry if it looked as if I was accusing the former or present owner of animal cruelty. I have been there actually and it is an all right place.

 

Cairns zoo filled with hungry mouths to feed - Radio National Breakfast - 24 May 2010

just found a very interesting radio interview with the managing director. What surprises me is the food bill can vary between $8,000 (as mentioned before) and $10,000 a week.
10 grand!

 

Tourism in far north Queensland has been hit hard by tge recent financial crisis. And now with cheap international airfares it is cheaper to fly to Thailand, Singapore and Bali then to cairns.

 

Although this is an area with many tourists there must be a large proportion of visitors with no interest in this kind of a place. Although I enjoy visiting zoos I can see lions at home, when in Australia I want to see local species or more likely visit the real rainforest/reef etc.

 

Trust me when I say that there is NO shortage of wildlife attractions with native animals; it is exotic animals that are in short, and the Australian members will know that too well.

It is interesting that when I visited the CWSR, it was the only place I saw that only had exotics, although I think an exhibit for mixed marsupials was in the making at the time (to please the tourists, who expect them in an Australian zoo, even if most foreign zoos have one or even more species, and in the village of Kuranda close by are several wildlife attractions with most of the best known Australian fauna).

 

I know, I've been. I still think that even though it may be the only collection in the area with exotics it would have limited appeal to a large proportion of overseas travellers, of which there are a lot in that area. I realise that it may also cater to the domestic tourist market but, with all the area has to offer, even as a generally interested zoo visitor, it's the last place I'd go.

 

Both of you are right. CWSR has the wrong animals to appeal to international visitors and is too far out of Cairns to grab the attention of domestic visitors wanting to entertain the kids for a couple of hours. Also, I suspect the collection is just a bit too small to be getting much repeat visitation from locals.

Baldur - the only other zoo that is focused on exotics to such an extent is Mogo. It has the advantage of being on a holiday coast that people drive, rather than fly too, and is thus much more accessible to visitors to the region. Having said that, Mogo has also struggled to stay afloat at times.

 

When this property was originally planned it was envisaged as a specialist primate zoo with walkthrough enclosures like Apenheul. I think it is a shame it never developed in that direction.

 

The ticks would have played havoc with such a collection at that location.

 

Source please?

 

I just can't get over the food bill.

 

Steve Robinson.

 

OK well maybe that is the reason it didn't go that route.