The zoo i want to start

Hello i am 20 years old, and since i was VERY young i have wanted to start a zoo, here is a layout for that zoo i plan on building in the future, tell me how you like it, or what you would change about it, do you have any pointers, do you guys think my plan is realistic or too grandiose, your opinions are much appreciated !!!


If you want to see this zoo built like this page LONG BEACH ZOO | Facebook

 

You must be really bored.....

 

You are STILL very young if you actually think that concept of a zoo is possible to realize just like that. Sorry to say...

Anyhow, you want every type of animal that cannot kept in a house to live in grottos? Sure you don't mean exhibits? A grotto is a type of old-fashioned cave thingy that for example bears used to be housed in. And good luck with building 50 different animal houses and afford running them because you don't want to keep different animal groups in the same building.

 

I've been reading different threads before and you've posted the exact same thing before, only the zoo has a different name. Each exhibit in each zoo is the same thing, with the same species, and you honestly just put every single member of that group of animals (ex. peccaries, elephants, deer) into your zoo. You can't just build a zoo. Do you have any experience? Do you have, quite literally, millions of dollars? If not, well, don't expect a zoo to be your future.

 

I was going to say something like 'ah, let the poor kid dream'. There's a few things that swayed me.
1) There seem to be people on the Facebook page that are under the misapprehension that this is even vaguely plausible, and I think it's unfair to mislead them.
2) You seem to think that you can just take over a public park for your private business. Oh, and it happens to be in a flood zone, according to Wikipedia.
3) The quote from the ex-San Diego Zoo employee, and your desire to follow in his philosophy, mark you out as somebody not well-suited to managing others.
4) You kinda lost me when you started talking about riding elephants from the airport to the zoo and feeling like an Indian rajah.
5) Are some of those gazillions of photos possibly from Zoochat? If so, you should be aware that you have no rights to use them.

My advice: stick to Zoo Tycoon.

 

keep dreaming .... maybe you will make your dreams reality. i know it's difficult but with will and determination you might manage it.

and by the way good facebook page

 

With will and determination, one might manage to start a zoo in general, but NOT this zoo. Starting a zoo identical to Berlin Zoo would be less ambitious than this...

 

You can't just have....

Jird House
Squirrel House
Tortoise House
Civet House
Turaco House
Python House
Boa House

Giraffe Grottos
Capybara Grottos
Seal Grottos

It just doesn't work like that. It would take millions and millions of dollars, lots of experience, and at least a bit of originality.

I'm sorry to say, even if you managed somehow to start it, a zoo like that would get shut down right away.

 

I hope ungulate nerd does open his zoo one day.

 

Thanks Jusko88 i really appreciate your support !!!

 

Hopefully not with all those grottoes or species. For grottoes, they are typically inadequate exhibits, and for all those species, I don't want UN going broke caring for all of them!

 

Times are tough. Even for larger, more established zoos, funding is becoming more of an issue. If you were to start a zoo, how would you puchase land, build state of the art facilities to house each individual animal, vet, or even recieve permits to even have every single animal?

Speaking of which, a starting zoo would not usually house such a vast array of species. I think it would be wise to just pick a few out of each type of animal (reptiles, mammals, birds, anphibians) if this is to be a STARTING zoo. Many zoos start out small, then expand as time comes. If this is truly a passion you desire to accomplish, maybe a small petting zoo with a few exotics will be a good start to acheiving this dream. (and by exotics I mean, Wallabys, Spurr Thighed Tortoises, and possibly even a small primate.)

I wish you all the best of luck.

 

Thanks viper, I will take your advice into consideration, i really appreciate the support, my mom even suggest i start a petting zoo to make money for my major Zoo, I will start small and work my way up to the big leagues, thanks again Viper !!!

 

Just to let you know, I am aware that I cant just build a zoo just like that, and to answer your question i have YEARS of experience, I have been volunteering in zoos since i was 9, the Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice park then hired me when I was 16 to work as an ambassador in the education department, I have been doing that like 5 years now, I also work as a Volunteer Animal Keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo, over there I have worked with Grevys zebras, Pronghorns, Nubian ibex, Lowland anoa, Black and Red flanked duikers, Southern pudus, Ocelots, Black tailed prarie dogs, and Childrens Zoo Animals, at Santa Ana Zoo I have experiance with Wallabies, Emus, Ponies, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, Ducks, Turkeys, Pigs, and Education animals such as Hedgehogs, Iguanas, Rabbits etc, and Regarding higher level zoo positions I know people in those departments quite well and I even help out in commitee and planning meetings for the zoo and have wrote lists and letters which I am working on one know mainly about what animals should go into the zoo's collection etc. Regarding money I dont have millions or billions of dollars but i do sometimes is study the following things, How to get public land, How to privatize public land, how to do fundraising, How to get government permits for certain animals eg. Saiga, Platypus, Cuviers gazelle etc. How to host fundraisers, Services provided by the department of the interior, Services provided by the Department of Fish and Game, Services provided by US Fish and Wildlife, are the animals planned for my zoo's collection sustainable in my zoo's environment, anyways these are things that help and also I hope my experience explains or answers your question

 

Check out this zoo idea, this is EXACTLY what I want Long Beach Zoo to look like with that EXACT layout, and that EXACT animal collection Build this zoo, Orange County World Zoo | Facebook tell me what you guys think of this plan ???

 

Yes, a petting zoo would be the smart way to go. It would provide a chance for you to manage a facility and to understand how difficult it will be, even with a small collection. By the way, how is the zoo project progressing. A facebook page posting pictures of animals you would like to display is nice, but have you thought about the actual enclosures themselves?

On a side note: I like the thought of Radiated Tortoises and Mangshan Vipers in the possible collection.

 

I am surprised that with all your experience you don't have a much more realistic concept about opening a zoo instead of what looks like a 'I know a LOT of animals and can get pictures of them' project.

It sounds very dull, loads of cul-de-sacs with acres of land with similar animals on. With the millions of dollars you must have to do this you could create a much more important world-shaking animal facility. I hope it's self-funding because apart from zoonerds topping up their life-lists it doesn't sound that exciting for the public who you may despise for their lack of interest in 4 slightly different tapirs but if you need their money you'd have to consider that.

 

Yes I have thought about exhibit designs, in fact every Paddock, Grotto, Pool and Cage for the larger and medium sized animals eg. Elds deer, Thomsons gazelle, Grizzly bear, Amur leopard, Stellers sea lion etc. will be between 10,000 square feet and 3 acres, I actually got many enthusiasts following my zoo project and I plan on writing a letter to the city of long beach about this plan and the cost and everything else, and the design of the paddocks will be packed dirt with one tree, a holding barn, and a mote, each being 10,000 square feet with 3 exceptions being African elephants get 3 acres, Asian elephants get 3 acres, and Giraffes get 1 acre, grottos will be concrete or shotcrete walls with a small pool and a waterfall and instead of the animals having to walk on concrete they will have to walk on packed dirt or grass, except my polar bears will walk on concrete, each grotto like the paddocks will have a wide and deep mote that separates the animals from the people, the cages for larger animals like mountain lions, persian leopards, ocelots etc. will be 10,000 square feet inside with custom designs and foliage and rocks etc. based the needs of the particular species or subspecies of animal, each animal house eg. Armadillo house, Viper house, Chevrotain house etc. will be however many square feet inside where each animal gets a glass fronted indoor enclosure inside a brick building, each pool will be 10,000 square feet and bordering a bring building were guests could get glass fronted viewing of those animals eg. Dolphins, Manatees, Seals, Sea lions etc. but some of those animals will get a small sliver of land made of concrete to get on if they need to, and by the way I am glad you enjoy the fact that I plan on including Radiated tortoises and Mangshan vipers !!!, Do you have a special interest in herps or something, if so what is your favorite zoo for them and what is your favorite species ?

 

@OrangePerson: You are exactly right in terms of a more exciting collection. I too, would be sick and tired of seeing 6 or so similar species displayed in a different habitat. Zoos select their animal species carefully to convey to the public what they want to educate to them, wheather it be a certain enviroment or even conservation of the particular species.

@ungulate nerd: Like I explained above, Zoos generally tend to have a mission or goal when creating exhibits. What are you trying to convey to the public about the species? Will the animals behavioral and mental needs be fufilled when inhabiting the enclosures? These are the questions you must ask yourself when designing a habitat to display a species. A simple cage with some logs and foliage wont do if you are trying to send a message to the visitors, which is every zoo's mission (and is the reason why zoos exist).

Also, a house for armadillos, chevrotains, and even vipers aren't nessesary. A more realistic and measurable idea is to maybe create an avian house or a reptile house that can be inhabitated by several species you desire to house, but less costly than creating a house for every species. But like I said, variety is key to a sucessful zoo.

I think it would be an excellent idea if you looked around the zoochat gallery for ideas on creating immersive exhibits for both the animals and the visitors. Good examples to look at are:
Congo Gorilla Forest (Bronx Zoo)
Mcneil Avian Center (Philidelphia Zoo)
LAIR (Los Angeles Zoo)

Do you have a backup plan if the City isn't interested in constucting a zoo? DO YOU have the money for creating the facilities you want and staff wages?These are important questions to consider if this is what you would like.

I have lots of favorite reptiles, but these are just a few that come to my head and my favorite exhibits for them.

Radiated Tortoise (Micke Grove Zoo and Bronx Zoo)
Ploughshare Tortoise (?)
African Bush Viper (?)
Fly River Turtle (Los Angeles Zoo)
Chinese Alligator (San Diego Zoo)
Gila Monster (Arizona Desert Museum)
Madagascar Day Gecko (Bronx Zoo)
Mangshan Mountain Pitviper (San Diego)
Green Tree Python (Sacramento Zoo)
Madagascar Tree Boa (?)

 

And also, if I may ask, where in Long Beach will this potential zoo be located? Do you have a list of desired species that are to be included in the zoo for any curious zoochatters?

I am genuinely curious to know.