List of Zoochat Members Wanting to Found a Zoo

Location- USA- probably northeast
Species - a wide variety particularly birds reptiles and cold weather mammals
Time frame- 10 plus years
Collaboration- probably
Restraint- my age- only in high school

 

I have a suggestion for a type of zoo that I think is definitely needed, with an added plus is that comparitively it would be very very cheap. That is a zoo for domesticated animals.
Many breeds of horse, cattle swine goat sheep rabbit chicken duck turkey are
rare and endangered. There are literally dozens and dozens of breeds world wide. Other types of domesticated animals

reindeer
dromedary camel
Bactrian camel
llama
alpaca
yak
gayal
water buffalo
zebu
bali cattle
ferret
hedgehog
parakeet
cockatiel
hamster, gerbil mice rats chinchilla
fishes of many types
bees , silkworm

as well as many others that are near domesticated or in the process of becoming.

 

Such zoos already exist (Haus- und Nutztierpark Arche Warder, for example), but they're not as cheap as you might expect.

 

There are dozens of these already in the UK - they are called 'Open' Farms or Farm Parks - of varying quality and scope. They are not regulated by the same planning, licensing and legal requirements as zoos with exotic animals. Very few make much contribution to the preservation of rare and declining breeds, like those in Germany do; and many eventually have to add large restaurants, covered play barns for children, or collections of 'real' zoo animals to maintain the public's interest and thus footfall.

 

1. Intended Location of zoo: Netherlands. Somewhere, not sure where as it wil be in the far future and don’t know how the country will look at that time.

2. Species Intended to be held:
Invertebrates are the main focus of the collection I am hoping to start in about a year or two from now. However I’d like include severel freshwater fish species, some amphibians and reptiles as well. And perhaps a couple species of rodent. The main goal I would want to achieve is recognition for those who often fail to get any attention. While madagascar hissing cockroaches are commonly kept as exotic pets nowadays and more known to the general public there are still thousands of invertebrates in need of recognition and our help in conservation. Now while this isn’t exactly a group of animals that lures in people for days I do hope that it can function as a place where people can enjoy insects and other small animals. Now a zoo can’t survive just on insects I feel so there would probably be a few larger species like wallabies, ducks and perhaps a species of owl, Strix leptrogrammica in particular cause I just love them. If there would be money for a outdoor area I am definitely getting a duck pond. Whatever cool species of duck is available on the market by then I shall keep, probably. Possibly be looking into getting some exotic breed of sheep as well.

3. Time frame for building/opening: 10+ years easy. As I am still in highschool (though next schoolyear is my last) and I still need time to build up a collection and work towards getting funds and a zoo license. A lot of preparation is to be done.

4. Open to collaboration with others: maybe. It honestly depends on what vision the collaborater has when it comes to animal conservation. Though I wouldn’t mind collaborating at all.

5. Biggest restraint if not opening in the next 2 years: School. Besides that the lack of finances and no animals to work with. I still have to build up a collection over time and save up money.

 

This question does not seem to have been answered, so I'll make some comments,

Firstly Africa is not one country, it consists of 54 countries and 9 territories covering an area 4 times the size of the contiguous United States. Each would have it's own regulations, or indeed a lack of regulations because it has not happened before, which in itself would be a barrier. Given the colonial history I suspect it would be doubly difficult for somebody from a first-world country.

Secondly most people have very low incomes. This means they don't have a lot of money spare to spend on entertainments such as zoos, There is a reason most zoos in developing countries don't look great - there is not a lot of money available. Those that have money don't want to spend it on animals.

This low level of personal income may make it look attractive - you can employ a lot more staff for the same amount of money. However zookeeping is often regarded as a low-prestige job. At Moonlit most keeping staff hold a science degree. For a person with a secondary education, let alone a degree, to waste it on zookeeping would be seen as extremely stupid and selfish in most developing countries. Then you can have problems with keepers and basic things like the quality of food. Why feed such good food to animals when my friends go hungry?

You could try to aim at the tourist market, and there are several parks of different types in Bali, for instance, aimed at this market. Typically they charge visitors 4 times or more the weekly income of average Balinese, so are entirely dependant on tourism. The problem with Africa is that most tourists are visiting with the intention of seeing mega-fauna in the wild, and would not be much interested in visiting a zoo for that reason. Perhaps if you concentrated on reptiles, small mammals and other creatures not commonly seen in the wild. For instance I visited a small but nicely presented snake attraction in Victoria Falls on my visit last year.

Lastly in many countries items we might consider "off the shelf" are simply not available, and can be difficult and expensive to import.

Having said all that there seemed to be a fair number of "lion parks" and "rhino parks", etc, around Jo'berg so there seems to be some room in this space for private operators in South Africa, at least.

 

1. Intended Location of zoo: Australia, WA

2. Species Intended to be held: Whatever animals I can get and hopefully some endangered species so I can breed them and release them to the wild for conservation.

3. Time frame for building/opening: hmm.. not sure yet. Probably more than 5 years

4. Open to collaboration with others: Yes

5. Biggest restraint if not opening in the next 2 years: Finances or the Government not allowing a zoo.

 

Location: Northern Illinois
Species: Small animal species and rescued native species, this is until I can obtain AZA accreditation, then species from all over
Time Frame: Most likely 10+ years
Open to Collaboration: Yes with any other institution
Biggest Restraint: Don't know an exact location in my area for the zoo, along with money

 

If you would like your collection to be financially viable I suggest that you stick to domestic species and aim at families with young children. For a long time I have thought that this would be a winner, if not too far from a city or large town. Some advantages include far less restrictions, almost certainly far less cost to construct and to operate, as well as being easier to find staff etc..

 

Conservation is not that simple.

 

Depending on the species and the locality (and the associated legislature), this might not be entirely true. Where I currently live, the red tape to showcase domestic animals is greater than presenting the poisonous and venomous species of my exhibition.

 

Isn't conservation also more of maintaining a sustainable habitat, along with multiple sustainable populations?

 

If I was starting a zoo in WA, Australia. How would I like actually start it. What legal things would I have to go through and who do I contact for it? Also, are there any online places I can go to see what the animals are fed and all their enclosure (just a place for people wanting to start a zoo)?

 

Among others, yes. As well as involving local communities, political lobbying, veterinary monitoring etc.

 

The idea that people think you can just go and read a few websites then open a zoo frightens me.

Personally I started with guineapigs as a child moving to turtles, snakes, fish and then birds. I covered parrots, finches, quail, buttonquail, pheasants and softbills in my birdkeeping time. By the time I started attending any sort of talk about animal care, conferences, anything I could afford and where they would let me in. I read every book and every magazine that was at all relevant. I visited every zoo or wildlife park I went anywhere near. As I approached my 40's I knew I had to get a move on so I enrolled in a course in Endangered Species Recovery and Management at Durrell in Jersey. On that trip I visited a number of British zoos and parks, and on the way home Woodlands Park and San Diego. A subsequent trip resulted in a visit to some of the more interesting (for me) Dutch and German zoos. Then after we had bought the land and were moving towards building it I did a Diploma in Captive Vertebrate Management at Charles Sturt Uni.

That is the animal side. The business side is far more important to whether your zoo survives and prospers. I guess I was fortunate in that I was involved in a family business so I knew a bit about most aspects of running a business, HR, OH&S, marketing, liability, and especially (essential for anybody running a zoo), how to read a profit & loss statement and balance sheet, and how to do a cash flow projection.

Despite this I made plenty of mistakes and for quite a while there I was never sure we would survive. But we got through.

The legal stuff is easy, you just find out what the rules are and follow them. Your local environment department is the place to go. Local councils will tell you where you can and cannot set up. But really that is the least of your worries.

 

Thankyou. Of course I’m not just reading a few websites and starting up a zoo. I probably won’t start it for another 10 years. I’m just planning now. I did start with guinea pigs, rabbits, livestock and birds then onto reptiles and learning about all animals. Ive worked with zoos behind the scenes and have been researching for about 5 years now. I’m not stupid enough to start a zoo without thinking. I realise it would cost around $200,000,000 per year.

 

Mmm, still a little bit off base there

I don't think there is a single zoo that is stricktly a zoo on this planet with a 200 million dollar a year operating budget.

For a moderately sized collection, think more along the lines of 400,000 to 1 million a year operating budget.

 

Well for a zoo with exotic and endangered species it would. Definitely not $1 million a year for the zoo I’m thinking.

 

No, it quite literally does not at all, which isn't doing much to help your point here.

The San Diego Zoo, which I can guarantee is far, far larger than any hypothetical zoo you, I, or anyone else here could ever hope to open, has an operating budget of just over 200 million AUD.

The Toronto Zoo, another massive and complex zoo far fancier than anything that a private individual could ever hope to open, has an operating budget of around 52 million AUD a year.

What a single, private individual could ever hope to open, especially in a location such as Australia, wouldn't even come CLOSE to the same level as one of these facilities. Many mid sized collections in Europe have operating budgets of 3-5 million AUD, and even these facilities a quite a bit above what a single private individual could reasonable achieve.

So unless you're planning to single handedly open one of the worlds largest and most expensive zoos in the next 10 years, I think you don't need to worry about a 200 million dollar operating budget

 

Yep. Unless I win the lottery or something, I won’t be opening a zoo like that, just a small ‘hobby’ zoo I guess. Thanks