This is something I have been mulling over for quite some time, and have finally decided to post about it. I've opted to put this into general discussion, as this is something more then fantasy.
Alberta is home to 7 facilities holding zoo permits, along with an 8th on the way. Two of these zoo's are located in edmonton, the Edmonton Valley Zoo and West Edmonton Mall Sealife Caverns. The latter maintains a small public collection of fish, sharks, rays, reptiles, penguins, and sea lions (that can only be viewed during the bi-daily shows or rare training sessions), and the first a much larger collection of assorted creatures from rats and quail to tigers and an elephant.
Now opening a 3rd zoo in edmonton is something I have mulled over, however land is at a premium (often into the millions to get a couple of acres in prime land) and a facility out of the city is a poor choice, with winter contions being a major deterant to those who wish to leave the city.
However, the is a small "city"/county, known as Sherwood Park, roughly 10-20 minutes out of edmonton depending on traffic. It boasts a population of over 64,733 people, and is a thriving and growing area. Land also happens to be much more reasonably priced, land over 2.5 acres is much easier to find, and there are no zoo's are other animal related attractions to speak of in the area. Both the zoo and mall are at least a half hour away, not accounting for city traffic.
And to summarize, this is where I plan to start a zoo.
The property can be seen here :
Is is located directly off a major highway, and is rather simple to find. The area is 3.81 acres, and measures roughly 520' by 320'.
Now what could make this potential zoo/aquarium something special, that gives people reason to want to visit, as opposed to the other two facilities in the general area ?? This applies more to people living in edmonton than "the park", for obivous reasons.
Well here would be my reason. Cetaceans.
There are at present only two other facilities in all of Canada holding cetaceans. One, Marineland Ontario, is located out to the east far far away from alberta. The other, the Vancouver Aquarium, lies on the extreme west coast, still a days travel by car or an expensive hour long flight from edmonton. There is nothing to speak of for cetaceans in central alberta at all. This is what would give my facility its edge.
We would house Harbor Porpoises and perhaps Pacific White Sided Dolphins, the initial most likely being sourced either from the netherlands or from rescue programs along vancouver. The lags would most likey be sourced from Miami Seaquarium and Seaworld Texas. Dolphins from Japan are not out of the question either, however it is probably much easier dealing with animals within north america. Programs would be offered to get up close and personal the the creatures, trainer for the day and suchnot. Perhaps even a program where you can get into the water with the porpises.
The other major attraction would be penguins. Albertas only other penguins are a small flock of africans at west ed and the stunning flock of assorted species in calgary. One population being un-remarkable and the other being 3-4 hours away. Ideally we would come to hold all species of penguins currently in captivity, however I have my doubts over the Chinstraps, Emperors, Little Blues and Adelies. Either way birds would be sourced from throughout north america and europe.
This is just the beginning of my "master plan", and I do apologise if there are any mistakes or things that don't make sence (I'm typing this at 3 in the morning), and I look forwards to hearing everyones questions and comments to the idea !!
Also yes, I do realise the costs associated with such a task, and yes, I do have zoo experiance. I do also recognise the need to bring in 2nd/3rd parties for certain opertions of the zoo in its initial stages.
Alberta is home to 7 facilities holding zoo permits, along with an 8th on the way. Two of these zoo's are located in edmonton, the Edmonton Valley Zoo and West Edmonton Mall Sealife Caverns. The latter maintains a small public collection of fish, sharks, rays, reptiles, penguins, and sea lions (that can only be viewed during the bi-daily shows or rare training sessions), and the first a much larger collection of assorted creatures from rats and quail to tigers and an elephant.
Now opening a 3rd zoo in edmonton is something I have mulled over, however land is at a premium (often into the millions to get a couple of acres in prime land) and a facility out of the city is a poor choice, with winter contions being a major deterant to those who wish to leave the city.
However, the is a small "city"/county, known as Sherwood Park, roughly 10-20 minutes out of edmonton depending on traffic. It boasts a population of over 64,733 people, and is a thriving and growing area. Land also happens to be much more reasonably priced, land over 2.5 acres is much easier to find, and there are no zoo's are other animal related attractions to speak of in the area. Both the zoo and mall are at least a half hour away, not accounting for city traffic.
And to summarize, this is where I plan to start a zoo.
The property can be seen here :
Is is located directly off a major highway, and is rather simple to find. The area is 3.81 acres, and measures roughly 520' by 320'.
Now what could make this potential zoo/aquarium something special, that gives people reason to want to visit, as opposed to the other two facilities in the general area ?? This applies more to people living in edmonton than "the park", for obivous reasons.
Well here would be my reason. Cetaceans.
There are at present only two other facilities in all of Canada holding cetaceans. One, Marineland Ontario, is located out to the east far far away from alberta. The other, the Vancouver Aquarium, lies on the extreme west coast, still a days travel by car or an expensive hour long flight from edmonton. There is nothing to speak of for cetaceans in central alberta at all. This is what would give my facility its edge.
We would house Harbor Porpoises and perhaps Pacific White Sided Dolphins, the initial most likely being sourced either from the netherlands or from rescue programs along vancouver. The lags would most likey be sourced from Miami Seaquarium and Seaworld Texas. Dolphins from Japan are not out of the question either, however it is probably much easier dealing with animals within north america. Programs would be offered to get up close and personal the the creatures, trainer for the day and suchnot. Perhaps even a program where you can get into the water with the porpises.
The other major attraction would be penguins. Albertas only other penguins are a small flock of africans at west ed and the stunning flock of assorted species in calgary. One population being un-remarkable and the other being 3-4 hours away. Ideally we would come to hold all species of penguins currently in captivity, however I have my doubts over the Chinstraps, Emperors, Little Blues and Adelies. Either way birds would be sourced from throughout north america and europe.
This is just the beginning of my "master plan", and I do apologise if there are any mistakes or things that don't make sence (I'm typing this at 3 in the morning), and I look forwards to hearing everyones questions and comments to the idea !!
Also yes, I do realise the costs associated with such a task, and yes, I do have zoo experiance. I do also recognise the need to bring in 2nd/3rd parties for certain opertions of the zoo in its initial stages.
