The financial scramble is reverberating for zoos worldwide.īioparque Estrella, a safari theme park outside Mexico City, is hoping to get by with enough funding until a tentative reopening this month. Divers jazzed up their kelp forest maintenance routine with a dance to the Sugarhill Gang's “Jump On It” in a popular video. It also created YouTube “MeditOceans” videos for meditating to sights and sounds of ocean creatures. “For us, it's being able to talk about Blanding's turtles, an endangered species from our community that we’re breeding.”Ĭalifornia's Monterey Bay Aquarium is captivating people by live-streaming African penguins and sharks. “It's the opportunity to highlight species that often don’t get high-profiled,” CEO Dolf DeJong said. The strategy also helps spotlight lesser known animals. The Toronto Zoo is live-streaming moments like weigh-ins of red pandas, drawing tens of thousands of new social media followers, spokeswoman Amanda Chambers said. “Our objective is to just make it to the point where they allow us to reopen for business and the people can come and enjoy the animals,” zoo president Joel Parrott said. It's $14.95 a month $9.95 for zoo members. It also started an online subscription program offering daily behind-the-scenes videos with animals and zookeepers. The Oakland Zoo in the San Francisco Bay Area recently brought back more than 200 full-time employees - at least until June - after getting loans under the federal program. Fernando's Cameo appearances may be a tiny boost, but “it’s so popular we’ll continue it for as long as we can,” Castro said. In the past month, viewership has spiked 350%, and its Instagram following is growing. The facility in the nation's fifth-largest city has been approved for $2.7 million in loans under the federal program and has raised hundreds of thousands online for its 3,000 animals.Ĭastro believes behind-the-scenes Facebook Live videos make people feel more connected to the zoo.
The Phoenix Zoo, a $1 million-a-month operation, has been losing $80,000 a day since shuttering March 18, Castro said. A recent survey showed more than 60% have laid off or furloughed employees.Ībout 60% of its members have applied for loans through the federal coronavirus relief package intended to limit layoffs at small businesses and nonprofits. zoos and aquariums, which typically host a combined 200 million people annually, all closed, Ashe said.
They have to care for animals,” said Dan Ashe, president of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. “They can’t just send their employees home and turn off the lights and lock the doors. While a smattering of zoos, from Utah to Germany, have started reopening with social distancing rules, there's no telling when they will reach their usual levels of visitors and revenue.īesides jobs, the well-being of the animals is at stake.
Zoos and aquariums have brought adorable distraction by posting photos and videos of animals, but the closures mean they're still in jeopardy. Social media is one way zoos worldwide are engaging with people who can no longer visit - their main source of income - and raise some much-needed cash.