The Alabama Experience; Two Zoos

You Land and timble of plenty. The mother earth. Read properly so. Get on the ground. Tradition. I'm going to say it tonight. I can hear the piano playing. I had a giant jumping. I need to make some changes. I'm going to say that I was a true major for justice. Wisdom and knowledge. It's long hours and hard work.

You did the right thing. Hard at the community. The dream is so large. And it's worth whatever I can put into it. Welcome to the zoo. From the cute and cuddly to the wild and majestic. The animals and zoos attract visitors all year around.

Traditionally, zoos have collected animals from the wild and created miniaturies for the entertainment of curious visitors. Modern zoos that are accredited by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums focus on wildlife conservation and public education. Through a program called the Species Survival Plan, zoos coordinate their captive breeding programs to promote long-term survival of certain endangered animals. At the Birmingham Zoo and the Montgomery Zoo, hundreds of animals are cared for each day. These two accredited facilities are part of a global effort to protect vanishing wildlife from the threat of extinction. These city-owned and operated parks offer the chance to experience the animal world in a more personal way than merely viewing them through books and television.

What we as zoo professionals want to do is provide an environment for the animals in which they can go about their business of being whatever species they are. They have certain needs and certain outlets that they have to realize. We want to provide opportunities for them to do that. Where there are no visitors, we could do these things in other ways. But we also want to present the animal to the public as nearly in a natural way as we can. So the public can see the animal not as an abstraction, but as a part of its complex environment. That's really the condemnation of the animal in a bear cage. Because an animal in a bear cage is an abstraction. It means nothing. When you look at it, you don't learn anything, you don't gain anything. You don't see the animals part of the overall environment. So the new wave, if you will, in zoo

management is to provide extremely naturalistic exhibits and put the animal in and let the animal just have a good time and go utilize its exhibit. Humans are having a devastating impact on nature. Water and air pollution take their toll. The earth's rainforest are shrinking. Wetlands are filled in so shopping malls can dot the landscape. Human beings at the expense of nature are manipulating the environment and putting untold stress on the populations of many animal and plant species. If a balance is not achieved, zoos may be the only defense which some animals will have against total extinction. We've got a map of the zoo and we've got some skins if y'all want to feel them. This is a beaver. The modern zoo has a four-fold purpose.

Conservation of endangered species in all wildlife for that matter is a primary goal. Educating the public about the needs of wildlife and the environment and what's going on in the world around us is an important mission. We're trying to do research and not the kind of research that the medical profession might do or biomedical research. But we're trying to learn more about what it takes to get these animals to reproduce in captivity, talking about temperatures and environmental needs of the animal's behavioral concerns. There's a lot of research going on which specifically benefits the animals that we're studying. It's sort of behavioral studies. And then the zoos are always wonderful places for family we're talking about conservation, education, research and entertainment as the four purposes of a zoo. And the good zoo tries to balance all those. You're going to say hey to Ballu. Hey Ballu. How are you? Hey Ballu.

Look at his wife. There's another Ballu child. There's another Ballu child. There's another Ballu child. There's another Ballu child. Nothing. Nothing. There's another Ballu child. Okay let's go. We'll see you next time. Peace be upon you. Some species have already been lost forever, while others are pushed to the very edge of extinction. The World Concerned Groups committed to wildlife conservation and environmental issues are working to preserve habitats and rebuild endangered populations. Through the coordinated efforts of zoos, aquaria, and wildlife parks worldwide, captive animal populations can be reproduced and managed for the preservation of the species. It is hoped that one day, habitat destruction can be reversed and there will be sufficient natural areas for some creatures

that are produced into the wild. Much of the focus of our conservation efforts has to do with participation in programs which are managed by a committee of peers in the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. For endangered species or species that are identified as problem species, we have species survival plans

which collaboratively manage the entire population of a species within the country. That is, a management committee that's elected by representatives from every zoo looks at the US population of each species and makes the management decisions as to which particular individuals need to be paired with others to breed to maintain as diverse a genetic pool as possible. I think the cutting edge these days is more of the ultra-detail nutritional needs of these animals and also propagation. How to breed them. We're getting into embryo transfers, frozen embryos. There are a lot of groups that are starting frozen semen storage, frozen embryo storage, tissue sampling.

A lot of genetic studies to see what the diversity is in these animals and what it is not. That will subspeciate them and help us on the medical end. Some animals like the cheetah that are so genetically pure sometimes difficult to stay healthy. They get one virus in them and they can wipe them out as a race. Medicine is very well integrated into the animal care programs in the Birmingham and Montgomery zoos. A total care approach is taken to maintaining health. Animals get everything from viruses to degenerative diseases just like humans get. Controlling diets, climates, and stressors are a few of the considerations that go into caring for animals and captivity. In confinement, animals have unusual vitamin requirements. Some don't get sufficient exercise to simulate their appetite. That's quite a problem with the reptiles. The long term confinement has stress effects on them.

We can't always afford to get the best equipment. We have a large number of hospitals around here. Some of their items become obsolete that we can still use. Several of the hospitals have donated items. A lot of the small human clinics will donate odds and ends. Even sutra needles. I use those by the dozens because the animal skin is a lot tougher. If they break open an outer seal on a package of fluids, they can't use it, but we can. We have a lot of diagnostic similarities. We use X-ray machines. I'd love to be able to do more ultrasound work in our animals. There's a lot of work being done in those areas. The Montgomery and Birmingham zoos are growing and changing to accommodate modern philosophies and zookeeping. In Birmingham, a new master plan has been developed. It calls for expansion and renovation of the present site to create a state-of-the-art zoological facility.

The reason for the master plan is that a lot of things have just sort of been added on or come into being in the zoo in the last 10 or 15 years. And they don't necessarily fit within a comprehensive overall plan. A large portion of our budget goes to trying to maintain buildings and facilities, which are many 20 to 25 and some even 30 years old. And so the state of the physical plant is of extreme importance. And utilities to support an organization of this size are very important also. That includes electrical access. That includes sewage. That includes appropriate drains for large animals, such as the hippopotamus.

And it includes a full range of things which when people come to the zoo to see animals that they cannot readily see. The city of Montgomery has already begun the process of making significant changes to its zoo. The zoo opened up in this area at this location in 1972. And it was the little six acre zoo that everybody's familiar with. And it was always a very clean zoo, had a fairly nice collection of animals. But the exhibit technology was fairly well, it was probably state-of-the-art for 1972. But it was a lot of chain link and cages and bars and not very many open areas in the zoo.

And the animals were usually displayed in like single species units. Well since 1972, zoos all across the country, the whole profession has been going through significant changes in terms of philosophy, new commitment to conservation and education, exhibit design. And while other zoos have been evolving and changing and improving their facilities, the Montgomery Zoo since 1972 was sort of out of standstill. And a remarkable thing about what's happening here is where other zoos change and exhibit at a time where maybe develop an African realm over a period of 10 or 15 years they go through this development. Montgomery has gone from six acres to 40 acres in less than a year. Both the Montgomery Zoo and the Birmingham Zoo are important institutions in their respective communities. They are city parks operated with public funds, but unlike most parks, the zoos can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue from admission charges, gift shop and food sales and train rides around the park. The expenses associated with running a zoo are considerable.

Gate receipts alone do not begin to cover costs. What people see when they come to the zoo is the animals and everything is clean, everything is neat, everything is done for them. But there's a lot of people behind the scenes that are doing all these things to make it look so nice and to make it so pleasant for people to come to the zoo. We came from sterile cages from the concrete prisons to what you see today. It cost a great deal of money to get it done. We really needed a modern zoological type facility. We still had the old managerate. It was nice, I'm not saying it wasn't nice, but it just wasn't what it should have been. So we started thinking about it, but it was in 1983 before we actually contracted with a zoo planning organization to come in and do a semester plan. After that was done, the zoological society had to decide how are we going to implement this plan.

The only way that we could implement it was to get the cooperation of the city in order to do it. The mayor is really the driving force behind everything you see going on out here. And he's recognized the potential of the zoo to attract tourists to the city and increase revenue and the economic stability through tourist dollars. And through his leadership, the city council has bought into the project and they're very supportive. All departments of the government, everything that comes down from the mayor is helping to build a zoo. We've got several groups together and they thought it was doable. So I took to the city council a proposal for a $5 million bond issue for the zoo. It passed. The program then went underway by the community to raise the balance. They have to date raised in cash and in pledges $2.5 million. The other $2.5 million is still out there we hope.

But we've only built what we had money for. We will add attractions as the money comes in. We have plans to immediately start after the opening. The Champ exhibit which was given to us by our friends at the Montgomery County Commission. We will also build an addition to the North American exhibit for our mountain lions and our bobcats. So we've got plans that will go as fast as the money arrives. The growth from 6 to 40 acres will result in a completely new look for the Montgomery Zoo. The modern exhibits and expanded collection are expected to dramatically increase the zoo's popularity as a tourist attraction. But the animals are the big winners in Montgomery. The wide open exhibits and the modern buildings for housing the animals will add new dimensions to the conservation efforts taking place at the Montgomery Zoo. If we don't develop a gene pool that reflects the best of each species in the zoo network worldwide,

then the people who are working on stopping the habitat encroachment won't have any species to repopulate with. It is ultimately the goal of the worldwide network of zoos. Before the new master plan can be realized at the Birmingham Zoo, a decision will have to be made on how the growth will be financed. Birmingham Mayor Richard Errington has stated that the zoo needs financial support beyond what the city alone can provide.

I began to analyze the situation. Noting first of all that even though our zoo serves a 10 county area, there is but one government that pays the bill and that is the city of Birmingham. Obviously the city of Birmingham by itself cannot continue as it has now for some 30 some odd years paying the total bill for the Birmingham Zoo that serves a 10 county area. We think that that should be support from other areas. We think we should have some regional support. So I began looking at a couple of options. One was the opportunity we might have to get the legislature to establish an authority and have a city of Birmingham to give the zoo to the authority and let the members of the authority be drawn from the 10 county region that the zoo serves and let us fund it on a pro capital basis. And of course the second alternative I thought of was the alternative of looking at privatizing the zoo since there are several zoos in this country that have been privatized in recent years and most of them have been successful.

So we're looking for alternative ways to provide the expenses necessary to upgrade and to operate a first class zoo facility here in Birmingham. Whatever path is ultimately taken for financing zoo improvements the primary mission of the zoo will remain wildlife conservation. It's a very important job for for those of us who work in zoos to preserve animals that are disappearing in the wild and to help the visitor understand why preservation of habitat and preservation of those animals is so important to the future of the whole earth. And this is a hard concept to get across but when a person sees a tiger in front of them realizes the size and the majesty of the tiger and then it's pointed out to them that so many of these are dying because of the value of their skins or because of the loss of habitat. They come away with a different perspective than if they'd read the same thing in a magazine and the zoo is the only institution in most communities that is dedicated to conveying that information to the public.

Adults who are interested in animals and have some time to spare can volunteer in a lot of different ways they don't have to commit to a certain number of hours every day or every week. We have volunteers who come in sporadically who come in occasionally who come in regularly and some come when we ask them to come in if we have a special event and others come just on a routine basis for an activity that they've signed up for. This morning I'm going to talk to you about reptiles. Does anybody any of you kids out in the group? Can you tell me what a reptile is? Does anybody know or tell me anything about them? Can you tell me anything about them? I know somebody out there can tell me something.

One of the main responsibilities of our team volunteers is to be out and around the zoo accessible to the visitors with items to show them that will help them to understand the exhibit that they are adjacent to such as the tiger exhibit. We have a tiger skin that was confiscated at the port of entry into the United States which we use to help the visitor understand why killing tigers for their skins is inappropriate and detrimental to that population but also to allow the visitor to get to touch a tiger skin. Sheer Khan was this kind of tiger. He was a bangle tiger because bangle tigers live in India. This is what sheer Khan would feel like. They are about the size of sheer Khan to keep helping those teeth are going to feel that. Sheer Khan. That was mostly I'd be wearing. These stripes are to help him hide from his prey and also from men so he doesn't become prey himself. It's like if it's dry in India where this tiger comes from and these are about the color of the burnt grasses and with the light and shadow playing across.

We are in the business of species survival. We are now looking at what is best for the species, not what is best for the name of the zoo. We have gone from being a place of pure entertainment to being a place for education and conservation and they go hand in hand because conservation occurs because of education. The more people know about it and it needs the more they are going to want to preserve it. Obviously a major improvement was the theme of presenting animals in as nearly their natural habitat as possible bringing the visitor into the zoo and making the visitor feel like they are in fact a visitor to the animals home. And if they have responsibilities and duties to the animals and that animals have dignity and animals have as much right to be on earth as any other form of life.

That's a major step forward and it's not been the visitor's fault in the past that that didn't happen. It's been our fault how we present the animals to the people will then determine how the people think of the animals after they leave the zoo. The modern day zoo philosophy is geared I would say more in the favor of the animal. You know you've got so many species at such a level of jeopardy that displays are being designed where it may not be as comfortable for the spectator in the zoo to just walk up like coming to a TV screen and see all the animals. Because you may have to look, you may have to work a little bit to see the animal that you would like to see because the displays are arranged and designed to be more natural. And in the zoo design you're walking a fine line you've got to give the patrons a certain element of satisfaction.

And then you've got to be very sensitive to the needs of the animal and I believe the people that design the Montgomery zoo have tried to come up with the best of both worlds. ours is not a large planet anymore travel distances shrink and whatever happens in one part of the world is almost immediately known in the other. And for this reason if zoos are to reach their stated conservation goals it becomes absolutely necessary that there's a high degree of cooperation between zoos in the state in this region. In this country and throughout the world and we have to sometimes put aside our own goals and the things we immediately want for the good of individual species survive one down the road. But unless we're able to instill some wonder and perhaps some respect for nature in children and try to reverse that non-existent attitude in adults then maybe our chances aren't so good for nature persisting on very far in the future.

Let's go make it. If you have a question or comment about this program or if you'd like to purchase it, please call 1-800-239-5233 or you may write the Alabama experience box 87,000 Tuscaloosa Alabama 35487. Please include the word zoos in your request.