Zoos and the Economy
Written By: Eric Biedlingmaier
Generally, when people think of economy, they think of money. More often than not, this money is thought to have been generated from sales, or from services that specialists provide, or from entertainment such as movies or television. Often overlooked, however, is how zoos and aquariums can offer entertainment, and how unlike movies and television, help the region they are located in substantially through enormous investments and even greater profits.
Zoos and aquariums, as one can imagine, require animals. This may come as a nobrainer, but these animals-- far from pet store variety-- can exceed a million dollar per animal per year, due to them being “rented”. In addition, the cost of feeding the animals is tacked on, and these critters can consume more than 25,000 dollars worth of food a year. And that number is only for an individual monkey! Larger animals, such as big cats, bears, or elephants, require a much larger amount, and add to the cost.
For example, according to gallup.com, the average cost of feeding a human for a month is about 151 dollars. That amounts to 1812 dollars a year. As you can see, the difference between the amount monkeys need for survival versus the amount humans need to survive is astounding, plus the fact that a zoo has several hundred animals, if not thousand. This also doesn’t account for renovations and human capital, and each zoo has several thousand employees to pay. Tack on medical bills for animals, the need to recreate habitats within the zoo, and construction of buildings, and the grand total for everything, per year, is a whopping 23.5 million dollars, according to the Minnesota Zoo.
However, thankfully for many zoos, the opportunity benefit is greater than the opportunity cost. These zoos can barely run on their budget, and they don’t normally make a profit. The benefits to having a local zoo is education; many people, upwards of a million, can visit the zoo or aquarium during a year, depending on location. These zoo-goers learn more about the animals, and this is the primary reason zoos are kept around. Sometimes, zoos work for a profit, but the capital earned generally goes back into the zoo in the form of renovations, whereas the non-profit zoos can get funding from other businesses, such as the Milwaukee Public Zoo is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank. The donations received from their sponsors and from families willing to donate helps to fund their on-going renovations and new additions to the zoo. However, with this budget, many times unplanned things fall into place. Sometimes, building have major problems with them, sometimes animals that were large attractions pass away. Because of this, the budget planned for zoos continues to increase, and with it, ticket prices do too. More employees are needed as well, and that adds even more to ticket prices. Often, zoos increase ticket prices by one to three dollars per year. But even more often than that, zoos find themselves several hundred thousand dollars in debt.
• Dakota Zoo." Dakota Zoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.dakotazoo.org/at-the-zoo/animal_food/ >.
• "MarketWatch - Stock Market Quotes, Business News, Financial
News."MarketWatch - Stock Market Quotes, Business News, Financial News. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Feb. 2014. <http://www.marketwatch.com>.
• "Zoo Camp Registration Starts February 15." Minnesota Zoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Feb. 2014. <http://www.mnzoo.org/global/aboutUs_di
Pictures:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Washington_Zoo_entrance.jpg
http://brookfield-zoo.visit-chicago-illinois.com/Zebra-brookfield-chicago-zoo.jpg
Generally, when people think of economy, they think of money. More often than not, this money is thought to have been generated from sales, or from services that specialists provide, or from entertainment such as movies or television. Often overlooked, however, is how zoos and aquariums can offer entertainment, and how unlike movies and television, help the region they are located in substantially through enormous investments and even greater profits.
Zoos and aquariums, as one can imagine, require animals. This may come as a nobrainer, but these animals-- far from pet store variety-- can exceed a million dollar per animal per year, due to them being “rented”. In addition, the cost of feeding the animals is tacked on, and these critters can consume more than 25,000 dollars worth of food a year. And that number is only for an individual monkey! Larger animals, such as big cats, bears, or elephants, require a much larger amount, and add to the cost.
For example, according to gallup.com, the average cost of feeding a human for a month is about 151 dollars. That amounts to 1812 dollars a year. As you can see, the difference between the amount monkeys need for survival versus the amount humans need to survive is astounding, plus the fact that a zoo has several hundred animals, if not thousand. This also doesn’t account for renovations and human capital, and each zoo has several thousand employees to pay. Tack on medical bills for animals, the need to recreate habitats within the zoo, and construction of buildings, and the grand total for everything, per year, is a whopping 23.5 million dollars, according to the Minnesota Zoo.However, thankfully for many zoos, the opportunity benefit is greater than the opportunity cost. These zoos can barely run on their budget, and they don’t normally make a profit. The benefits to having a local zoo is education; many people, upwards of a million, can visit the zoo or aquarium during a year, depending on location. These zoo-goers learn more about the animals, and this is the primary reason zoos are kept around. Sometimes, zoos work for a profit, but the capital earned generally goes back into the zoo in the form of renovations, whereas the non-profit zoos can get funding from other businesses, such as the Milwaukee Public Zoo is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank. The donations received from their sponsors and from families willing to donate helps to fund their on-going renovations and new additions to the zoo. However, with this budget, many times unplanned things fall into place. Sometimes, building have major problems with them, sometimes animals that were large attractions pass away. Because of this, the budget planned for zoos continues to increase, and with it, ticket prices do too. More employees are needed as well, and that adds even more to ticket prices. Often, zoos increase ticket prices by one to three dollars per year. But even more often than that, zoos find themselves several hundred thousand dollars in debt.
• Dakota Zoo." Dakota Zoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.dakotazoo.org/at-the-zoo/animal_food/ >.
• "MarketWatch - Stock Market Quotes, Business News, Financial
News."MarketWatch - Stock Market Quotes, Business News, Financial News. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Feb. 2014. <http://www.marketwatch.com>.
• "Zoo Camp Registration Starts February 15." Minnesota Zoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Feb. 2014. <http://www.mnzoo.org/global/aboutUs_di
Pictures:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Washington_Zoo_entrance.jpg
http://brookfield-zoo.visit-chicago-illinois.com/Zebra-brookfield-chicago-zoo.jpg
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