Pandas raise zoo visitor numbers
Are Zoos a good or bad thing? Do we know what impact they have in terms of rural economies – Newquay, Twycross, Longleat, come to mind – I think this would be an interesting area of study. My thinking is prompted by some interesting stories about charismatic megafauna in the news this week. On the one hand, visitor numbers at Edinburgh Zoo are up by 200% thanks to the recent arrival of two giant pandas: Tian Tian and Yang Guang (on loan from China for ten years at a cost of ££640,000 every year and on top of the £250,000 the Zoo spent constructing a state-of-the-art panda enclosure on the site of the former gorilla exhibit).
On the other hand, this piece in the Independent 15 British zoos and wildlife and safari parks which have 85 rhinos have been warned the animals may be attacked by poachers because of the soaring value of their horns in the Asian medicine market (which are more valuable than gold on the black market). To combat ‘rhino rustlers’ the National Wildlife Crime Unit has asked zoos to tighten security and report anything suspicious. What does the future hold for these symbolic wild/captive animals and more broadly for zoos themselves?