Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve staff going without pay so lions don't go hungry

Zookeepers are special people (at least those I know) but not so special that they can go hungry for long or skip paying their own bills. Shame, been there, a nice park and the only place in the FNQ where you can see exotic animals.
 
This must be a bit of a headache for ASMP species coordinators. I believe Cairns is due to receive giraffes, zebras and more rhinos later this year. That would certainly get them out of this current hole through repeat visits to see the new animals. But... Can coordinators responsibly approve transfers to a zoo in immediate financial distress?
 
There are 7 or more other animal attractions within an hour of the Reserve also. I wonder how they are all fairing.
 
They are all in an area with a small resident population and which relies heavily on tourism for the local economy. Between the weather and the man made financial crisis all of NQ must be feeling the pinch.
 
Jarkari said:
Zoo staff go without to feed animals - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Another article about the issues. Note the food bill is around $8,000 per week. I understand due to location and quantities of food being purchased this may be understandble. Just for comparison sake the food bill for TWPZ is around $9,000 er week. Surely they could find a way to reduce costs.
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That small difference seems crazy when you consider that Dubbo has five elephants, a couple of dozen rhinos, about half a dozen hippos, about a dozen giraffes and more equids, bovids and cervids than I can be bothered to count to feed. Sure, Cairns has a lot of carnivores - but Dubbo still has something like 19 big cats and 18 canids to provide for.

I don't understand how location can explain such a huge feed bill for Cairns. It should be half that.

Also - Cairns' bank can't be *too* confident in them. I would have thought that with giraffes and zebras on the way they'd be able to find some short term cash to pay the bills, if the underlying business is viable.
 
TWPZ is in farming country, I'm not totally sure what crops they grow up north but TWPZ has contracts with farmers. Because the zoo will be there they are a guaranteed income. But that food bill makes me think they are feeding their lions steaks. TWPZ actualy has close to 10 times the number of animals.I to am unsure why the bills are so close.
 
does anyone else feel uncomfortable with the owners statements, basically saying that if the staff aren't willing to sacrifice their own basic living needs then they don't care about the animals?
Some zoo staff have complained to The Cairns Post that they have been toughing it out and are unable to pay bills at home.
But reserve owner Jenny Jattke said most of her 15 staff members realized the need to go without pay to keep the animals from starving.
"The staff are here for the No. 1 reason we’re here: for the animals," Jattke said.
"No way is our animals’ health or their food ever, ever compromised.
"They are No. 1 and I’m afraid the humans are No. 2."
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I also noticed that. I think it is a way of covering herself. The anti private zoo brigade has already attacked this place a few times. But it is not right. You can't expect staff to work without pay. I'd have expected more community support.
 
This establishment might be on its last legs, and even if it survives the economic crisis what does the future hold? With only around 100 animals it is much smaller than I imagined, as that is an insignificant number of creatures in comparison to most other wildlife parks.
 
snowleopard said:
This establishment might be on its last legs, and even if it survives the economic crisis what does the future hold? With only around 100 animals it is much smaller than I imagined, as that is an insignificant number of creatures in comparison to most other wildlife parks.
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That's really got nothing to do with it. Werribee only has a few hundred animals and they're doing over 200,000 a year fairly comfortably (they're not really viable without cross-subsidy from Melbourne, but that's because of the problems caused by the buses).

Cairns WSR's selling point is that it's the only place in Far North Queensland to see big exotic mammals. They're the only place in the region with big cats and ungulates, and they have more primates than anywhere else as well. If you want to see a fairly broad collection of native mammals, birds and reptiles you'd go to Cairns Tropical Zoo instead.

A low number of species, as there's only 20 odd there, is probably hurting their repeat visitor numbers at the moment. I don't think they need to adopt a postage stamp approach to expansion though - the steady introduction of the right species should get people coming back.

The thing that I can't fathom is the $8000 a week feed bill. It simply doesn't make sense, and is surely where the problem lies.
 
CGSwans said:
That's really got nothing to do with it. Werribee only has a few hundred animals and they're doing over 200,000 a year fairly comfortably (they're not really viable without cross-subsidy from Melbourne, but that's because of the problems caused by the buses).

Cairns WSR's selling point is that it's the only place in Far North Queensland to see big exotic mammals. They're the only place in the region with big cats and ungulates, and they have more primates than anywhere else as well. If you want to see a fairly broad collection of native mammals, birds and reptiles you'd go to Cairns Tropical Zoo instead.

A low number of species, as there's only 20 odd there, is probably hurting their repeat visitor numbers at the moment. I don't think they need to adopt a postage stamp approach to expansion though - the steady introduction of the right species should get people coming back.

The thing that I can't fathom is the $8000 a week feed bill. It simply doesn't make sense, and is surely where the problem lies.
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For Australia it is a very decent collection for a private zoo. I'd say $2,000 would feed the carnivores for a week. I cant see them spending $6,000 a week on hay, fruits and vegetables... maybe they meant it costs $8,000 to run the place.
 
Jarkari said:
For Australia it is a very decent collection for a private zoo. I'd say $2,000 would feed the carnivores for a week. I cant see them spending $6,000 a week on hay, fruits and vegetables... maybe they meant it costs $8,000 to run the place.
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$8000 *could* be the weekly wages bill if a couple of the 15 staff are part-time.
 
Maybe there is a scarcity problem with the food bill. Remember when banana prices skyrockted after a cyclone. Weather could have damaged or destroyed farmers crops around the area.
 
Jarkari said:
Note the food bill is around $8,000 per week. I understand due to location and quantities of food being purchased this may be understandble. Just for comparison sake the food bill for TWPZ is around $9,000 er week. Surely they could find a way to reduce costs.
Click to expand...
$8000 a week? Do they buy their big cats prime cuts of meat from the local organic meat butcher?
 
Chlidonias said:
does anyone else feel uncomfortable with the owners statements, basically saying that if the staff aren't willing to sacrifice their own basic living needs then they don't care about the animals?
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I don't know if the same owners own the place, but there was an article in Thats Life quite a number of years ago now, where it was bought by a family that had like 5 kids or so. I wonder if parents, and kids are employed by the zoo?
 
I am curious,

any recent news on how Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve is progressing financially ?
 
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