ZOOS PANDA POWER Giant panda leasing is now big business around the world, but zoos looking
to do deals with China must be prepared for a huge investment of both time and money. Jak Phillips examines the bare necessities of the practice
Jak Phillips, News Editor, Attractions Management A
fter five years of intense political negotiations between Beijing and Britain, the spe- cially chartered plane finally
touched down at Edinburgh airport. Anticipation was high amid the tangible sense of history in the making. Having tracked the historic flight
with 24-hour rolling news coverage, the world's media scrambled to snatch a glimpse of the two VIPs from China. They emerged, flanked by a dedicated team of aides, while high-ranking politi- cians waited in the wings to greet them. But it wasn't the Chinese Premier dis- embarking from the aircraft. It was a pair of giant pandas. The hubris offers a telling insight into the peculiar practice of panda leas- ing. The pandas - Tian Tian and Yang Guang - were en route to Edinburgh Zoo to become the UK's first resident pandas in 17 years. Aside from five years of cajoling between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS - the charity that owns Edinburgh Zoo)
and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association, the deal to lease the pan- das involved political and diplomatic negotiations at the very highest level.
Costs and conservation In addition to the extra staff they require, the pandas - which remain the property of China - cost $1m (€726,607, £609,998) per annum over the 10-year period. And that's before you factor
in the estimated £70,000 ($114,754, €83,381) the zoo must fork out each year for the pandas' 18,000kg of spe- cially-grown bamboo. What's more, any cubs produced by the pair would be returned to China after two years. So why did the zoo go to all that trouble? Apart from it being something of a
coup (Britain’s last resident pandas, Ming Ming and Bao Bao, left London Zoo in 1994) the gains – according to the RZSS – were seen as both conser- vational and financial. The zoo’s director of giant pandas, Iain Valentine, says: “RZSS sought
to include giant pandas as part of their collection for a variety of rea- sons. Primarily as pandas are seriously endangered and we believe Scotland’s expertise in animal nutrition, genetics, embryology, immunology and veterinary medicine could add to the overarching conservation programme, but also as they are a flagship species to highlight other conservation work. “The commercial benefits were obvi- ously part of the picture too.” He says visitor numbers spiked by 50 per cent in the first year of the pandas’ residency, covering the costs of the lease fee.
Media attention, public affection Traditionally, zoos that lease pandas expect to see a drop-off in visitors by the end of the second year when the initial excitement has ebbed away, but Valentine says that Edinburgh Zoo has evaded this, with its pair of pan- das receiving their one millionth visit in December 2013 – two years after they first arrived. “Our business model
The benefits of zoos and aquariums include new income and jobs that contribute broadly to the economy
Although bamboo for Er Shun (left) and Da Mao costs $200k per year, Toronto Zoo’s visitor figures have increased 30 per cent year on year 74 Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital AM 1 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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