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Another thread about a new zoo...

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by nicholas, 28 Jul 2017.

  1. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    Reading about Batto's newly opened establishment, and his very well written story of the process leading up to it, I've been inspired to share my plans for the future. I haven't come as far as Batto, but things are in motion and if these plans are never realized, then so be it. I'm sharing this to hear your comments, as there a quite a few people on this forum who's opinions I appreciate, and also just to spark discussion and to make a "start a zoo"-thread that isn't just a list of species.

    I've worked in zoos for many years, in different countries and in different positions. I still do consultancy for a few places, but my day job isn't in the zoo industry. Every time I visit a zoo though, I see more things that I would like to do differently, then things I get inspired by. The idea to start my own zoo came many years ago, but for a long time I really felt that it couldn't be done. Or could it? Who am I, to think I could do something better then the more established parks, with their funds much higher then mine? Why would my zoo be nothing more then an other road side zoo? Well, we don't know yet, and maybe we never will, but I will share some of my ideas.

    The vision is to have a zoo where everyone is satisfied. Every visitor and every animal. While I'm sure that vision is shared by every zoo on the planet, I really do feel that many places aren't even trying.

    Let's start with the visitors; when you go somewhere, on your free time, and pay for it, you want to be pleasantly surprised. Who want the experience to be more then you expected. You want it to appeal to all senses and many emotions. I believe every detail is crucial. For instance, the toilets at the Botanical Garden in Medellín opens into panoramic windows with views into beautiful tropical plants planted on a slope going up from the windows. The plants and the slope make it impossible for people outside to see in (something most people appreciate while in the bathroom), but while you're in there you feel a sense of seeing something from a view no one else sees. The toilets themselves are of course also clean and smell good. Now, I don't want to linger too long on the subject of toilets, but I want to stress that if one detail fails, they whole experience fails. From gift shop to restaurant, from parking lot to animal exhibit, every place should be pleasant to the eye and appeal to at least one more sense. It's not hard to make a parking lot look nice. Some thought into paths and planting, low rustic fencing come a long way. It doesn't have to be expensive either. My place will be small, I'll go into more detail soon, so it will be about quality and not quantity, and making a small parking lot look nice is of course easier and cheaper, then it might be for a place that holds several hundreds of cars. So, the visitor has parked her car, she's entered the zoo and been to the bathroom. She's in awe over the tropical feel (even though she's not in a tropical country), the smell of flowers and the sounds of birds and cicadas. Now she wants to see animals, right? Well, probably she does, but in my experience, a really good looking enclosure is more important then the animal it self to the average visitor. Not so much that you could have enclosures without animals, but I'm talking about the over all experience (and I'm exaggerating a bit to make my point). My belief is that people today don't come home from the zoo talking about which species they've seen. I think they talk about what they've experienced. I plan to create these experiences using large walk-though enclosures that look good on their own. Enclosures that you will enjoy regardless of the animals in them. This is easier said then done, but I'm lucky enough to have land that already on it's own is quite pleasing to look at. So with some planting and through creating small streams and ponds I think it will be good enough for what I hope to convey.

    The larger part of the zoo will only possible to see through guided tours which will run every half hour or so. There will be a café and a garden where you can wait for your tour to start. Here there will also be some petting zoo animals in enclosures larger then their usually held. A guinea pig enclosure of 300 square meters, with large rocks, logs, drift wood and pathways. The visitors will be able to feed the guinea pigs with fresh grass that they can pic on a meadow before they enter. There will also be domestic fowl in a separate enclosure, more jungle like, where you can feed the chickens grain. Attractive hand-wash stations are passed before you enter and leave the enclosures and signs tell you the necessity of cleaning your hands after touching animals and things inside the enclosures.

    As your guided tour begins, you walk through a field with a large colony of domestic rabbits, all of the same breed and colour. I believe a large group of animals is often an experience many people remember, and having a group of about 20 rabbits come up to you and eat fresh grass out of your hands will be something both children and adults will appreciate.

    After the rabbits, the tour will take you through a gate and into a forest. Here, among the trees, the visitors will walk along paths with only a small fence showing the way. They will not be allowed to step over the fence, as that area is the home of an endangered mammal species, which will need some privacy, even through they will be used to people walking on the paths. The concept is used at both Apenheul and La Vallee des Singes.

    Other enclosures similar to this one will follow, some in the forest and some in more open areas, even desert like. All will be walk-throughs and by doing them as guided tours, I hope to be able to show some species in ways you are not used to seeing them.

    There will be a strong link to a conservation project for all wild species held at the zoo, and visitors will be encouraged to help with gifts or funds for the projects, but they will also be told a few things of how they can easily change their life style in a way that is supportive of bio diversity and sustainable use of resources.

    The concept of only doing guided tours will of course affect the number of visitors I can accommodate, but I don't think that's a problem. With careful planning to layout and landscaping, and by offering an experience quite different for the traditional zoo, I believe I will be able to charge a little more then you'd expect from a zoo with such a small number of species as I will have.

    I live within 30 minutes from large city that attracts around 6 million tourist visits every year. There are no other zoos within an hour from the city or from my location. I will start with what I have described here, which means I will be able to do most of the duties myself, with only a few part time employes during the busier days. My life partner and our children are all willing to help, as are family and friends. I will only keep the zoo open during the summer, which will enable me to keep my job and run this as a side business.

    I've applied for planning permission, and hope to be able to start actual construction this fall. Trees are being planted and landscaping is taking place. If all goes well I hope to open summer 2019.

    I am not a native English speak, so please have patience with misplaced commas and bad grammar.

    And bear in mind, this is only a very short description about the vision I have.
     
  2. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Glad to see that my example inspires people.
     
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  3. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    With only domestic species named so far, you haven't sold the idea to me yet......
     
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  4. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    The zoo will be aimed at the general public, whom I believe are the ones in need of education about wildlife and conservation. To get them interested enough to pay the cover charge it won't matter which wild species are held. But I can of course name a few species that I plan on holding if anyone is interested, but it certainly won't be anything like RSCC, in terms of species that might evoke the interest in certain zoochatters.
     
    Last edited: 29 Jul 2017
  5. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I'd be interested in what you plan on holding. I assume it's going to be easily obtainable species to start with and then maybe some rarities along the line?
     
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  6. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I can tell you that myself and many people would not be interested in a zoo that you can only see on a guided tour. So if you want to appeal to everyone, that is a dead end. However, I do agree completely with the importance of overall quality, including the toilets and parking lot. I would also have zero interest in a zoo where the first major exhibit is domestic rabbits.

    Edit - This is only my opinion and if you think it will work I encourage you to pursue your dream.
     
  7. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Then you won't be interested in "Welt der Gifte". ^^ Or ACTP. Or White Oak Conservation...
     
  8. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    You are correct, I would not be interested. However as you cite (and there are many other examples) there are places that are only open by guided tour and these places do get visitors, so there is clearly an opportunity. It is certainly a good way to ensure the grounds are maintained well and the animals are not subject to mistreatment. It is just not something that I personally would enjoy and I know others who feel the same way. You will never please everyone (even though you state this is one of your goals), so my advice is don't even try to please everyone because it won't work. Just follow your heart and your dream and be happy with the visitors who do enjoy the tour.

    I will point out (before someone who knows me well points it out) that the zoological facility I have the most respect for in the USA is only open by guided tour: Cat Haven in California. I respect them because they contribute hugely to conservation (both with funds and supplies and with staff involvement). I also enjoy visiting because the owner has become a friend and gives me a personal photo tour whenever I am in the area (and of course I make a nice donation in response). If I just had to do the regular public tours (where photo opportunities are awful), I am sure I would not like the place much at all.
     
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  9. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    When and where did I state that?? And I can almost certainly guarantee you that you would enjoy visiting my facility - even if it was just for the opportunity to meet me in person at my best. ^^

    For the sake of my little business, I hope that your assumption that "many people" will not be interested is incorrect. Well, gotta get ready; I have another round of visitors booked for a tour today.
     
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  10. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    You are forgetting the guinea pigs! Seriously though, would it in your opinion be a big difference for the better, if the first exhibit was with a wild animal?
     
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  11. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    I'll give more lengthy answer and explanation to the species I plan on holding. Not sure though that any rarities will be there.
     
  12. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    I'm not quite sure if this is aimed at me or Batto, but in my case, a vision and a goal might not the be the same thing. A herpetologist who's only interested in neotropical nocturnal amphibians might be hard to please when only holding mammals and birds, but you never know!
     
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  13. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Not to reply for AD, but for me - I know if I paid for a guided tour of a zoo and the first exhibit were to be a species that not only have I kept myself but I could see for free on the high street, or their progenitor species as a common wild animal in many places, then however many there were I suspect I'd feel a bit underwhelmed.

    I don't say that, as a component of a whole collection, wild-type European Rabbits in numbers would not be a good exhibit - but I'd be wary of opening with them on their own.

    Having said that, they might work well (again, for me) as an exhibit before the tour - alongside the necessary meeting/waiting area - which would retain them as the first experience without them having the significance of opening the tour itself.


    In a more general way, I've been thinking how many times I've been to animal collections that require a guided tour. They've tended to be very specialist ones - Cuc Phuong's langurs and turtles, Lubee's bats, even the Monteverde Bat Jungle in Costa Rica - for whom visitors are part of their outreach and an income stream, but not necessarily their main purpose. As specialist places, they have specialist advantages. In the ones I've been to, that's been species rarities for the most part - though it could also be specialist experiences (photography etc) or design/husbandry (like a night zoo). I think that's the key - I would pay for a tour if it offers something genuinely different.
     
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  14. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Many zoos have a flamingo exhibit as their front of house. Given the cost of flamingos, this might not be viable for a new collection, but what about a walk through aviary (with a diversion to view from outside, for those who don't like birds flying around them)? I'm thinking maybe Ringed Teal (very pretty all year round, perch in trees, will rear their own young on exhibit), Laysan Teal (can be used to tell a conservation success story), Edwards' Pheasant (possibly extinct in the wild), Purple Glossy Starling (stunningly attractive, will live as a group), Emerald Dove (same applies), and Black-necked Stilt. Regular mealworm feeds and talks through the day would engage the public.
     
  15. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    The walkthrough Guinea pig exhibit could be replaced by two smaller enclosures, for Guinea pig and Mara, or Guinea pig and Agouti. Then you would be showing a familiar species compared with an unfamiliar one. South American waterfowl could be housed with both.
     
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  16. Nikola Chavkosk

    Nikola Chavkosk Well-Known Member

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    The rabbits and guinea pigs definitively would not provoke interest in me of visiting such a zoo.
     
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  17. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    This is a really nice suggestion for a walk-through aviary. Maybe some day...
     
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  18. nicholas

    nicholas Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. Very good suggestion. I will keep that in mind.
     
  19. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Unlike most zoo nerds, the average zoo visitor greatly appreciates common pets such as guinea pigs, rabbits or budgies, especially when direct animal contact is permitted. Add an original presentation, like guinea pig bridges or villages, and the majority of the paying customers will walk even quicker past the zoological rarities.
     
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  20. Nikola Chavkosk

    Nikola Chavkosk Well-Known Member

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    But then in what you, as a zoo-founder, will enjoy, when you in your zoo, have only such domestic animals/ - it won't be interesting or inspirative for you as a zoo nerd. Unless the goal of opening such a zoo is purely for earning money - making business, thats another thing. Me personaly, will not enjoy in a zoo, regardless as a founder or a visitor, with only domestic animals, and by definition, even that is not a real zoo, - ''Zoo is a place where wild animals are on exhibit for seven or more days in a year...