Perth Zoo Perth to be privatised?

[jay]

An article advocating the privatising of Perth Zoo. I'm not sure if the author is serious or just trying to be 'controversial' to stir people up.
Perth Zoo privatisation Steve Irwin

I personally don't have an opinion either way but I don't think you can use Australia Zoo as an example to say that privatisation would be successful. Really the only reason why that place is so successful is because of the Irwin name.

 

[jay]

Oh and another reasn I think it is successful is because there is so much money coming in from other ventures, such as the tv shows and movie, the Bindi brand etc.

 

[phoenix]

its interesting that the main example of successful private zoo is that of the irwins. my view is that since the death of steve its struggled to expand. none of the drawcard developments have gone ahead. they have no african savannah open. no lemur exhibits. the elephant exhibit may well stand empty in the next 3-4 years. i'm gonna have a guess and say bindi doesn't bring in anything like the income her father made for the zoo. terri is, fairly or unfairly generally disliked. i saw plenty of prime time crocodile hunter shows on tv in steves day. yet even see an airing of free willy 4...

likewise the national zoo struggles to find the funding for its planned african safari. mogo's star white lions never did manage to raise the cash for its chimp exhibit. in fact no private zoo in this country that does not have significant investments in other media or enterprises has EVER built an exhibit of the multi-million dollar standard we have come to demand of our major zoos.

if you wanna sell a major zoo and expect a better standard development then best you sell it to village roadshow and accept the new attraction is more likely a rollercoaster than a new elephant barn.

i'll tell you what happened. chris thomson had a column to write. he thought hmmm -privatisation is on the agenda in WA politics at the moment? maybe i'll write about that? but his wife burst through the door and reminded him he'd promised to take the kids to the zoo. whilst he stood faking interest for his kids sake at the orang exhibit , he had an epiphany.....

 

[jay]

Good point re Australia Zoo seeming to have stalled.
The author also doesn't appear to have done much in the way of research as he doesn't seem to have any knowledge on the native fauna conservation work that the zoo does.
I like your idea of standing in front of the orangs and getting the idea of a filler column.

 

[Steve Robinson]

You never know how the politics work behind the scenes. It may be that a certain large company, thwarted in it's attempts to buy into a Victorian zoo, is now testing the waters with a tame journo to see if WA would be more amenable to it's expansionary ambitions.

Re privatisation - in Queensland I would not be surprised if one day it worked in reverse. We might one day see an "iconic" zoo saved by a government takeover.

Just flying kites here folks!!!

 

[CGSwans]

You never know how the politics work behind the scenes. It may be that a certain large company, thwarted in it's attempts to buy into a Victorian zoo, is now testing the waters with a tame journo to see if WA would be more amenable to it's expansionary ambitions.

Re privatisation - in Queensland I would not be surprised if one day it worked in reverse. We might one day see an "iconic" zoo saved by a government takeover.

Just flying kites here folks!!!

It's an interesting thought bubble but I doubt a certain large company would be interested in a zoo in a suburban area with only 19 hectares to play with. A certain large company might, however, be the white knight that could one day save an "iconic" zoo.

There is much wrong with the article - it's clearly aimed fairly and squarely at provoking a reaction. WA Today is a new, online only project from Fairfax. The editors would be wanting lots of comments on the website and hopefully for something to be picked up by talkback radio in Perth. The article is a provocation, nothing more and nothing less.

Mind you - I was a bit surprised to read that NZA is a conservation powerhouse, breeding endangered species left right and centre. As far as I'm aware, the only species that have *ever* bred at NZA are zebras, lions and cotton-top tamarins. Possibly a red panda or two. It's not a bad effort for a relatively young, privately owned zoo... but it's hardly in the same league as Perth's work.