Australia Zoo in Trouble » Australia Zoo

18-04-2008

Nigel, maybe you missed the point Patrick was making in regards to funding, the Irwins must make money to keep the zoo running and to expand and as Patrick said there is NO Goverment injection of cash keeping this zoo running, if it means putting on a "show" so to speak then so be it, zoos need money its thats simple.

As for the convervation side of things look what Zoopro has said about the amount of cash Aust zoo have given towards Tiger conservation, and the new tigers imported into Aust by them for breeding in our region.

There is large amounts of land bought by them for wildlife reserves for conservation of wildlife, give them a few more years and see how important their input will be as part of our regions main zoos and also with conservation, I say it will be a big part.

18-04-2008

I was pretty impressed with their conservation interpt, some of the best I have seen. In an ideal world there would be no need to raise money to keep worthy projects going, but the reality is they need to generate funds to keep going and keep getting the message out there.

19-04-2008

Hi Mark,

Will continue posting on this as I feel very strongly on the subject. I agree that zoos need to make their cash books count, I just know that you can do that without making it a personal thing. Just look at how Chester Zoo has come away from the dark days of the early 1980's .. and developped into a BIG zoo with recreation, commercial success, unusual animal presentation (exhibits), lots of endangered species breeding programmes, a significant and active education section and a huge conservation outreach programme with substantial funding for in situ conservation! Positive news all around!

What I mean with the power to dream ... (Dreamtime) is that Australia Zoo could become a world class zoo facility with large conservation outreach. They just have to publicise that side better to the media (who only seem to be interested in Bindi, luvey dovey and cuddly toys). We need to change the media landscape here (just look at what happened with the Thai elephant saga, the sad female Indian rhino's demise and stuff). The media and PETA just seem convinced this negative styled reporting in Oz is called for ... yet the zoo community is just left out of the equation. We need to engage the media and instill into them what zoos in Australia are really doing.

I have yet to read all the conservation stuff on Australia Zoo (I just waded through the tiger bit .. but could not easily find any news on the recent import of the Taman twin tigers on the website .. same for an annual report with financial accounts), so before I go into that ... I will leave you all to breathe for another day!

Have a nice weekend all!

Jelle

19-04-2008

Jelle I agree with what you have said but remember Chester zoo has been around for a long time and had a good head start so to speak, Aust zoo was a small reptile park up untill 1980 or so and has come a long way since then, I feel in time Aust zoo will become an important part of our zoo network here in Aust, as they say "Rome was not built in a day", In the next ten years or so big things could happen there and I feel they will, new exhibits are planned and new animals will join the zoo and become part of our regional plan.

As more animals are bought into the zoo more focus should shift towards the animals and the conservation work they do, its up to our zoos to push the right message across to the media for all the good and positive work they do.

22-04-2008

I have nothing against a good animal show that people can learn something useful about the animal , how to relate to them if they come across them in the wild , conservation issues etc .
Currimbin does an excellent snake show , complete with what to do if you encounter a death adder in the bush ( leave it alone ) as well as first aid for snake bite ..... it also does excellent shows with their parrots , raptors and several other animals . And because the shows are well done , nobody gets bored with dry facts , or "Crikeyhype"
I have seen several reptile shows in my life , and Currimbin has the best ( so far )
Wellington Zoo does a tiger conservation talk every morning which actually teaches people a few issues which they wouldnt have otherwise picked up

Unless there has been a major turnaround in policy , the Australia Zoo reptile shows were very much on the thrill of the keeper almost being eaten by a huge saltie -- Crikey !! That was real close !! That nipper nearly got me !!
ad nauseum .

Big deal !!
so what did one learn from this ?

If Currimbin , Wellington Zoo , Orana Park and many other places can produce shows that are both entertaining AND EDUCATIONAL , as well as giving the public the opportunity of a good camera shot , why cant Australia Zoo do the same thing , with less of the hype and bravado that Steve could do so well .
Steve has sadly passed on , hopefully the zoo can do shows that have more useful conservation messages so it can
(1) stay alive
(2) educate the public about the need for conservation

as well as being a great days excursion

I have heard that Australia Zoo has bought large tracts of land to use as zoo expansion and/or wildlife reserve . I have no issue with this , and I commend them on this .

New Australia zoo trouble
18-05-2008

Anyone surprised that Australia Zoo has ripped staff off for wages?

18-05-2008

Did they really?

Australia zoo staff
18-05-2008

The articles talked about employees that were underpaid, not given breaks, etc. There are a tremendous number of former staff that were taken advantage of. In certain areas they were expected to be to work early, work late, not take breaks, and if they complained were given the message that they could easily be replaced.

19-05-2008

Australia Zoo breaches salary conditions | The Daily Telegraph

This is the latest link about the continuing woes of Australia Zoo.

19-05-2008

I had heard of that months ago.

10-06-2008

How many laws is this place and its management going to break before the government punishes them into compliance or hard enough for them to take it more seriously. I mean when Steve was alive, an aura of passionate conservation was everywhere, but after parading Bindi around for a buck and then this, I just don't know. Was the purchase of all that land for "conservation" just to smooth away the opposition of those who could see what this place has been doing for years, making exorbant profits with little in return. Go on the website, rather than see pictures of wildlife you have the Irwins smeared all over the place. I will never visit this institution again, for it is nothing more than a glamored up circus. If they are screwing the employees, will the animals be next?