This is something I have been mulling over for quite some time, and have finally decided to post about it. I've opted to put this into general discussion, as this is something more then fantasy. Alberta is home to 7 facilities holding zoo permits, along with an 8th on the way. Two of these zoo's are located in edmonton, the Edmonton Valley Zoo and West Edmonton Mall Sealife Caverns. The latter maintains a small public collection of fish, sharks, rays, reptiles, penguins, and sea lions (that can only be viewed during the bi-daily shows or rare training sessions), and the first a much larger collection of assorted creatures from rats and quail to tigers and an elephant. Now opening a 3rd zoo in edmonton is something I have mulled over, however land is at a premium (often into the millions to get a couple of acres in prime land) and a facility out of the city is a poor choice, with winter contions being a major deterant to those who wish to leave the city. However, the is a small "city"/county, known as Sherwood Park, roughly 10-20 minutes out of edmonton depending on traffic. It boasts a population of over 64,733 people, and is a thriving and growing area. Land also happens to be much more reasonably priced, land over 2.5 acres is much easier to find, and there are no zoo's are other animal related attractions to speak of in the area. Both the zoo and mall are at least a half hour away, not accounting for city traffic. And to summarize, this is where I plan to start a zoo. The property can be seen here : Is is located directly off a major highway, and is rather simple to find. The area is 3.81 acres, and measures roughly 520' by 320'. Now what could make this potential zoo/aquarium something special, that gives people reason to want to visit, as opposed to the other two facilities in the general area ?? This applies more to people living in edmonton than "the park", for obivous reasons. Well here would be my reason. Cetaceans. There are at present only two other facilities in all of Canada holding cetaceans. One, Marineland Ontario, is located out to the east far far away from alberta. The other, the Vancouver Aquarium, lies on the extreme west coast, still a days travel by car or an expensive hour long flight from edmonton. There is nothing to speak of for cetaceans in central alberta at all. This is what would give my facility its edge. We would house Harbor Porpoises and perhaps Pacific White Sided Dolphins, the initial most likely being sourced either from the netherlands or from rescue programs along vancouver. The lags would most likey be sourced from Miami Seaquarium and Seaworld Texas. Dolphins from Japan are not out of the question either, however it is probably much easier dealing with animals within north america. Programs would be offered to get up close and personal the the creatures, trainer for the day and suchnot. Perhaps even a program where you can get into the water with the porpises. The other major attraction would be penguins. Albertas only other penguins are a small flock of africans at west ed and the stunning flock of assorted species in calgary. One population being un-remarkable and the other being 3-4 hours away. Ideally we would come to hold all species of penguins currently in captivity, however I have my doubts over the Chinstraps, Emperors, Little Blues and Adelies. Either way birds would be sourced from throughout north america and europe. This is just the beginning of my "master plan", and I do apologise if there are any mistakes or things that don't make sence (I'm typing this at 3 in the morning), and I look forwards to hearing everyones questions and comments to the idea !! Also yes, I do realise the costs associated with such a task, and yes, I do have zoo experiance. I do also recognise the need to bring in 2nd/3rd parties for certain opertions of the zoo in its initial stages.
Do you have any experience with dolphins and porpoises because esp. the later ones are not easy to maintain in captivity ! Another issue is the public opinion, overhere in Europe several animal-right groups are against keeping dolphins in captivity and for example in Germany several holdings have closed due to the publice opinion ! However, I hope you get your plans true and wish you all the luck you need !!
First question: where the rest of the land? 3.81 acres is really tiny for a zoo, especially a zoo with cetaceans. That might, and I emphasize MIGHT, be big enough for your parking lot. Try multiplying your figure by 10 and you'd be at the bare minimum. Second question: Do you really think sourcing animals will be that easy? The backlash you'd face for importing dolphins from Japan would be overwhelming.
Erg, I kind of regret posting this in the way I did. I really do need to remeber to not post things when I am really tired. It tends to skew my personality a bit. If the even makes sence. To answer the first question, my experience with cetaceans is minimal. I have looked at trying to work with them, however you need experiance to actually work with them. As such, I have been looking at perhaps doing an internship at Vancouver or Sealife Park Hawaii to give me some some extended first hand knowledge into the subject. Also I am aware of the controversity of keeping dolphins in captivity. In regards to the second, that is a good question. I realise the limited space for actual parking at present would be extremely limited. There is a fair amount of land directly next to it, if it could be purchased it would increase the size of the area to roughly 11.5 acres. This is also not the only area I have been looking at, howeverit has been the main one that holds my interest. As to the final question, not really. I am aware of the stigma about dolphins from japan, however I am not talking about dolphins from the drive hunts, but perhaps like the two at the vancouver aquarium, adults that were rescued and needed to remain in captivity, or captive born animals. Although I would vastly prefer dealing only with captive bred lags within the states. Also vogelcommando, thank you !! As well, I never said on what order everything would be added to the park. Penguins and porpoises would most likely come to the park in its initial stages, however the dolphins might not be added in until years after the park opens. At this point, it is all open to debate.
A Pacific White Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens). Their common name is bulky to type out, and I have never really seen PWSD being used. So lag it is.
it seems to me that the site is so small that if you want penguins and dolphins then there literally won't be room for anything else at all. You say you have "minimal" experience with cetaceans. So why do you want to open a tiny marineland? I understand wanting to open a zoo, but it sounds like you've basically gone "I want a zoo, I'll open it there, now what sort of animals will attract people to come to that location" rather than "what sort of zoo do I want and what is its purpose". I think you're looking at things the wrong way around. Also a site needs to be big enough to contain parking facilities (as jbnbsn99 mentioned) because if there's no parking that is going to impact immensely on your visitor rates, and if you don't have enough visitors then you can't possibly afford to maintain creatures as expensive as cetaceans and penguins.
I'd say try to work towards those 11.5 acres, then you have a much better chance. I'd also say forget about the cetaceans, at least for now. I'd work on getting smaller species that aren't common in your area. You know, some stuff to draw in the animal lovers. I'd also say get one or two "typical" zoo animals to bring in the masses. Penguins are a bit more feasible but further down the road. I'd say go for your dream and work hard towards it and just see how things unfold. I wish you good luck on your endeavors. ~Thylo
