Are you more likely to visit a zoo with giant pandas?

Xenarthra said:
It's funny how public perception works sometimes, though it's encouraging to know that even a more obscure primate can generate interest and revenue if it's presented correctly. Or, well, looks funny, haha. Lots of other animals can compete with pandas in the cute/funny department in my opinion, here's hoping that some zoos try to harness that in the future.
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Well said, I hope this can happen too.
 
PossumRoach said:
Seeing all this talk about financial burdens makes me wonder how Ähtäri Zoo is faring right now...
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I'm not 100% but I think theirs were gifted to celebrate some sort of Finnish-Chinese anniversary or event, therefore they don't have the same stipulations as other collections.
 
RatioTile said:
What are some other animals that could potentially be loaned out in the same business model as the panda? They would have to be endemic to a single or very few countries and charismatic enough to draw crowds,
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Not quite the same thing, but the species on the Australian "Ambassador Species" list would somewhat qualify - these include but are not limited to Koala, Wombat, Cassowary, Tiger Quoll, Tasmanian Devil and Platypus.
 
I remember that instead of asking western zoos for their stock, Higashiyama zoo and iZoo tried to take komodo dragons
RatioTile said:
What are some other animals that could potentially be loaned out in the same business model as the panda? They would have to be endemic to a single or very few countries and charismatic enough to draw crowds,
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I remember that instead of asking western zoos for their stock, Higashiyama zoo and iZoo tried to As the Indonesian government for Komodo dragons.

Also all Jamaican iguanas are property of Jamaica including offspring born in foreign institutions.
 
Dassie rat said:
I have seen giant pandas in a few zoos and wouldn't choose to visit a zoo because it had giant pandas. I would visit a zoo with giant pandas to see other species. I visited Paris Vincennes in 1988 and I thought the lemurs there were far more interesting than the giant pandas.
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This is pretty much describes my feelings on visiting zoos that holds this species too.

PossumRoach said:
Also all Jamaican iguanas are property of Jamaica including offspring born in foreign institutions.
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I believe there is a similar arrangement with the Brazilian government and the black lion tamarin.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Not quite the same thing, but the species on the Australian "Ambassador Species" list would somewhat qualify - these include but are not limited to Koala, Wombat, Cassowary, Tiger Quoll, Tasmanian Devil and Platypus.
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I think some Philippine endemics (warty pigs, Prince Alfred's deer and Jurong's monkey-eating eagles) are subject to similar agreements. There was also an IUCN action plan that suggested trialling this kind of approach for the indri (subject to seeing whether animals placed in semi-captive reserves in Madagascar would thrive).

As may be noted, nothing came of the latter idea...
 
Gavialis said:
I think some Philippine endemics (warty pigs, Prince Alfred's deer and Jurong's monkey-eating eagles) are subject to similar agreements. There was also an IUCN action plan that suggested trialling this kind of approach for the indri (subject to seeing whether animals placed in semi-captive reserves in Madagascar would thrive).

As may be noted, nothing came of the latter idea...
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I'm not suprised, I imagine that there are too few indri left to even contemplate taking the risks inherent in these kinds of trials.
 
birdsandbats said:
For ZooChatters, this is true. For the average person, I don't think this is true. For whatever reason non-zoo nerds seem to be addicted to pandas.
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I always wonder how much of the appeal is actually due to the animal itself and how much is the cultural construct of the iconic panda within popular culture.

There is a great book on this that I read many years ago "The way of the panda" by Henry Nicholls in which he basically concludes that the global panda obsession is more due to the animals celebrity status and history but does have some socio-biological drivers too.
 
Gavialis said:
I think some Philippine endemics (warty pigs, Prince Alfred's deer and Jurong's monkey-eating eagles) are subject to similar agreements. There was also an IUCN action plan that suggested trialling this kind of approach for the indri (subject to seeing whether animals placed in semi-captive reserves in Madagascar would thrive).

As may be noted, nothing came of the latter idea...
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A lot of threatened species that are in conservation programs are subject to this sort of arrangement. It ensures animals are not traded out of the program.

The Chinese pandas are different in that it is clearly a money-making arrangement. The money is meant to go into conservation however as with most things in China there is no transparency.
 
Hopefully, Brookfield consider having one again. I’ve heard they had a nice one long before I were born.
 
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