For example, the Edinburgh Zoo is currently paying £600,000 (about $740,000) per year for its resident pair. During this period, an annual payment has to be made-and the going rate is sky-high. To put one of these rare, in-demand critters on display, a foreign zoo must lease it from the Chinese for a full decade. The Toronto Zoo, for example, spends $500,000 CDN per year (about $370,000 US) flying in bamboo from a Memphis-based supplier.įood-related expenses are just the tip of the iceberg: China’s government effectively maintains a global panda monopoly. Maintaining a fresh supply is a costly endeavor, especially for zoos located in cooler areas where bamboo doesn’t grow as well. Since these plants don’t offer much in the way of nutritional value, pandas need to consume about 26 to 84 pounds of them every day. Famously finicky, they dine almost exclusively on bamboo. But the big mammals also come with an extremely high price tag. “It is especially painful to all of us to think that anything that has occurred here at Zoo Miami would be offensive to any of the wonderful people of New Zealand.Giant pandas are one of the biggest draws for zoos that manage to snag a pair. In a lengthy apology to one complainant, the zoo said they were “deeply sorry” and that the kiwi encounter “was, in hindsight, not well conceived”. ![]() “We listened to everyone who wrote to us – and there were a lot,” Magill said. While the bird would not be repatriated to New Zealand, the “kiwi encounter” would be ended immediately, and Paora no longer exposed to fluorescent lights, the zoo said. Less than 24 hours later, Paora was returned to darkness. ![]() New Zealand’s department of conservation stepped in on Tuesday, saying a statement “We would like to thank everyone who has raised concerns about Paora, the kiwi at Miami zoo”, and that the department would be “discussing the situation with the American Association of Zoos & Aquariums”. Others launched an email campaign to the zoo, with some calling for prime minister Chris Hipkins to speak directly to the US ambassador and intervene. Within less than a day, more than 9,000 people had signed. One viewer immediately launched a petition to “Help Save This Mistreated Kiwi,” arguing that he was “subjected to bright fluorescent lighting 4 days a week, being handled by dozens of strangers, petted on his sensitive whiskers, laughed at, and shown off like a toy”. “He loves being pet, he’s like a little dog and he loves his head being pet,” they say. In a video posted to the zoo’s social media, a handler cuddles Paora, scratching his head and showing him off to a group of visitors, who feed him worms. The zoo had begun charging guests US$25 for a “kiwi encounter” to meet the bird. Pāora, the Miami bird, was hatched in the US as part of a breeding program. It is considered a taonga (cultural treasure) by Māori. The kiwi holds a special place in the hearts of New Zealanders. ![]() Many are now endangered, and there are ongoing national campaigns to wipe out predators and save them. The country’s early breakaway from other land masses means that it has no native land mammals, and is instead populated instead by a vast array of birds. The prime minister added that the zoo had “made public statements of regret on what’s happened, and I acknowledge that and thank them for taking it seriously”.Īmericans may have been surprised by the immediacy and volume of the fury on behalf of the kiwi – but New Zealand is unusually dedicated to the welfare of its endemic birds. “The New Zealanders who witnessed what was happening there caught it pretty quickly,” he said. ![]() Later that day, prime minister Chris Hipkins weighed in on the incident, saying it “shows a lot of Kiwis take pride in our national bird when they’re overseas”. After receiving a flood of complaints, “I immediately went to the zoo director, and I said, we have offended a nation,” he said in an interview on national radio. On Wednesday, zoo spokesperson Ron Magill said the zoo had “made a huge mistake here”. The footage went viral within hours – sparking a 9,000-person petition, a flood of complaints to the zoo, a government intervention from the Department of Conservation and comments from the prime minister.
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