Auckland Zoo Future of Auckland Zoo

In a time of economic woe there will be some obvious reluctance from many individuals to splash out another $10-15 million on elephants when at least $15 million has already been earmarked for the native New Zealand project. These are certainly ambitious times for Auckland Zoo! I truly hope that both major construction projects are able to be approved, as no matter how good Te Wao Nui is it will not have the drawing power of a herd of elephants.:)
 
I agree that for the average visitor to a zoo the site of a herd of elephants is going to be more appealing that a carefully constructed and superbly managed New Zealand habitat exhibit.

My understanding is that the recommendations of the Commission will not take effect until after the next local council elections (2010?) but that the report (which I haven't read) notes that Auckland Zoo has important regional significance. Depending on how the recommendations are implemented in practice, this represents a huge opportunity for the Zoo to attract regional and national funding and to have a more secure financial future.

My question would be what is the future of Te Wao Nui given that there is limited funding available from any source and that the Council is financially supporting the ele expansion plans. Does this mean that funding for TWN will be harder to secure? Is the Council going to financially support TWN as previously indicated? Has the Zoo the capacity to secure funding for two large CAPEX projects? Will TWN be phased and potentially never realise its potential? In terms of impact to the local biota of NZ, TWN is of greater importance, though a large ele exhibit will potentially increase visitor volumes and zoo profile and thereby help to financially support a phase TWN.

Interesting times down at the Zoo:)
 
While a herd of elephants might have enormous crowd-drawing power, you have to remember that they have an enormous on-going cost associated with them. Enclosures need to be enormous, structures have to be almost strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast, and the feed bill is humungous. Plus, the keeping staff generally look after the elephants and nothing else. The mre elephants you have, the more space you need, the more food you need, the more staff you need, the more funding you require.

The extra revenue from increased crowds needs to be evaluated against these costs. A herd of elephants might generate a lot of funds, but it might be many years before there is any spare to do Te Wao Nui.

:)

Hix
 
This is one of the dichotomies of the modern zoo, balancing the need for conservation of a species against the practical business case for having that species. I agree that potentially there could be little net increase in revenue for the Zoo once the costs of the ele's has been taken into account. However, there is also a strong ele conservation and species education imperative that needs to be looked at.

I hope that we would be able to have both a world class ele breeding and conservation programme AND a world class native flora and fauna exhibit. Perhaps I'm being too hopefully. There may be some hard choices to be made down the track about how these two desires are prioritized.
 
i truly hope Auckland Council, its citizens and business have the vision and commitment to realise both of the zoos proposals.
 
Good one, Chlidonias!
I too am "really surprised" that N Z Jeremy didn't realise that there was already a (two page!) thread about Auckland's future elephant plans when he was really surprised that we had all ignored the subject.:D
 
:) NZ Jeremy tends to pop in and out once in a while (rather than being on here every day like the rest of us sad sacks), so he probably just overlooked it. Easily done.
 
Sorry guys, I did scroll down the NZ forum topics before posting, I must have just missed it..!

I'll be really suprised if the elephant project isn't canned due to the royal commission and the ultra right wing ACT party leader being NZ's Minister for Local Government, I seen articles where he states he's not sure councils should pay for pools or even LIBRARIES..! So I can only imagine how he'd react to elephants..! I hope, I hope, I hope both projects go through and after Janie dies they renovate the only remaining old area of the zoo with either a Himlayan exhibit or Tropical free-flight aviary, then Auckland would be hard pressed to be beaten as one of the top few small zoo's in the world..!
 
@Dave B:

TWN will be going ahead, clearing works have began and the currently the finances are a million or so short out of an 8 figure budget or so I've heard.

Who is elected as Lord Mayor after the unitary authority is formed will also have a bearing on whether the ele project goes ahead, John Banks is a big supporter...

Auckland Zoo, the art gallery, orchestra etc all had greater funding security ensured a couple of years ago when the Government passed legislation stating all the regions councils had to contribute to them rather than just the Auckland City Council because they were based inside the council's borders... Don't under-estimate the right wing rates capping/cost cutting/privatising movement that is here and will be increasing over the next few years, I'm part of it..!
 
Are there any details or plans available for Te Wao Nui? It sounds intriguing but everything I've read about it is quite vague.
 
NZ Jeremy said:
@Dave B:

TWN will be going ahead, clearing works have began and the currently the finances are a million or so short out of an 8 figure budget or so I've heard.

Who is elected as Lord Mayor after the unitary authority is formed will also have a bearing on whether the ele project goes ahead, John Banks is a big supporter...

Auckland Zoo, the art gallery, orchestra etc all had greater funding security ensured a couple of years ago when the Government passed legislation stating all the regions councils had to contribute to them rather than just the Auckland City Council because they were based inside the council's borders... Don't under-estimate the right wing rates capping/cost cutting/privatising movement that is here and will be increasing over the next few years, I'm part of it..!
Click to expand...

Hello NZ Jeremy,

Regarding the elephant debate and rate-capping right-wing govt.? Are you suggesting you support that ... or is it just your observation/reservations on the elephant development coming to fruition? Any chance the local rugby club might come in handy ... and help out(lol)! ;)

On TWN: I think it is a milestone in Auckland Zoo development. It means so much to have a good exhibit on the unique NZ native species in a large Kiwi city.

Cheers,

K.B.
 
I'm a member of the NZ National party and support rate capping indexed to inflation (which would allow councils to maintain things like pools, libraries, orchestras, theatres and the zoo like it currently does) but not extensive cuts (NZ's tried that before..!).

I worry though that the ultra right wing (free market) ACT party whose leader is the Minister responsible for local government will attempt to pass legislation requiring rate reduction or sale/privatisation of the assets I listed above...

Note: The Auckland Unitary Authority (or Supercity) was confirmed today giving the new "Lord" Mayor very wide ranging powers including that over the zoo I believe... I might send off an e-mail to the zoo methinks...

Watch this space indeed...
 
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