What is the purpose of zoos today and should they exist?
Why do you still serve beef and dairy products at the zoo shouldn't you be
vegan? Should we let nature take its course and let some species die out?
Is it worth doing all this work for threatened species?
I hate this question. Yes I can say hands down absolutely.
Absolutely I get up every day and I come to work because I know we can make a difference.
Every species has its role in the ecosystem and they you know so I work with digging mammals they
turn over the soil they improve soil health so you take them away and you've got poor quality soils.
This world is so amazing because of the little animals that share it with us whether those
are Baw Baw frogs or Lord Howe Island Stick Insects it's that diversity that
makes this planet so special.
I mean it's tough work though right? Yeah it's not easy
and it can be depressing at times yeah but it's worth it for the little wins I think like you know
you hear that little frog call or you know find those little bandicoot burrows.
We've done as humans so much damage to our environment and to the other inhabitants of our earth.
Humans are pretty selfish so generally the question is what's in it for me or what's
in it for us? All of these species play a critical role in the ecosystem for one reason or another so
by removing them we have a trickle on and flow on effect that will no doubt start to affect people as well.
I would say there's a lot at stake in not protecting species and our environments
but yeah looking at that really big picture is often very challenging for people.
It's definitely worth it. It gives us a richer life,
it makes the environment, you know more healthy in just about every way that you can think of.
All right ready for the next one? Yeah. All right. Is it expensive saving threatened species?
Yeah I guess it does require an investment of money. Probably nothing compared to being
offset by the money that people and organisations make from um degrading the habitats that we're
then sort of going back to and trying to repair and save the species that have been affected so
no cost is too great at this point I would say.
We have the expertise, we know what to do, it's just we struggle to get the funds.
Yeah I think frogs are pretty economical as well you know
what you can do in like one frog bunker you can you know raise 150 frogs and
really supplement the population in like smaller spaces so it can be quite quite efficient.
Often when we try to work at the end of saving species it's like going into a
hospital and needing ICU. It's much cheaper to do the things that stop species getting into trouble.
It's much cheaper to protect their habitat, to keep trees in the ground,
to keep the environment perfect for them, but sometimes this is what it takes and I would
hate to think that when I needed ICU someone said it was too expensive and it wasn't there.
I would hate to think that when an animal needs Zoos Victoria in order to survive
we would say it was too expensive and we're not there.
We should be there
Should we let nature take its course and let some species die out? Survival of the fittest etc
Yeah it's a good one. I've heard this before it's really interesting and I understand superficially
why um why that's the first thought. This planet is so complicated
how are we ever going to decide which animals should just die out and which ones are important?
Already as humans we've created a mess and I think we teach little children
when they create a mess they should tidy it up. Morally I think that we're obliged to do
everything we can. We we can't stand by and watch species become extinct when ultimately
we as the human race are very responsible for that. We're contributing to the problem then we should
be contributing to the solution. Absolutely yeah. All these foxes and cats and rabbits, see all these
introduced species that don't belong here um we did that, humans did that and yeah our wildlife is
suffering because of it so I think yeah absolutely we should be part of the solution. It's not just
that one species that goes extinct that's an indicator of overall health of that environment.
Frogs for example they're a keystone species,
they're environmental indicators and kind of they're indicating if the environment's
poor and if something like that is happening then we really should be paying attention.
All right next question. How do you ensure the threatened species you work with are
able to be released back into the wild? Good question. I guess um yeah it's a
little bit different with frogs um they kind of maintain a lot of their natural wild behaviours
so we can kind of release them and be pretty happy that they'll survive in the wild but
um I don't know bandicoots, how do they go? Bandicoots are super easy, oh my goodness they
make it incredibly easy, so they are adaptable to different habitat requirements they just like
open areas for foraging and denser areas for nesting so they can find food anywhere and they
breed really well and yeah it's just a case of finding fox-free areas and and the rest is easy.
For me the best part about working with endangered animals is that moment when
you let them go back in the wild and they just run away into a new life.
And you know that for this critically endangered tiny population there's one more animal in it.
And when we do that again and again we can bring a population back from the brink of extinction.
No worries. Blank, blank, blank. Really? Seems like no one likes this answer and if we let one go,
why don't we let the next one and the next one and then all we left with is cockroaches and seagulls.