narrative

SECTION E Narrative

1. physical description

Australian Adventures, The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens’ newest habitat, immerses guests and animals in dynamic and engaging experiences. The 15,000+ square foot habitat was renovated from a retail plant nursery and gift shop space that was underutilized, underperforming, overlooked by guests, and understated in sharing The Living Desert’s mission of desert conservation through preservation, education, and appreciation. The nursery and shop closed in late 2017, and this area sat empty while the plans to create Australia came to fruition, as outlined in the Zoo’s Master Plan.

Designed to transport guests to the red-rock deserts of the Australian outback, guests are immediately welcomed by the iconic red dirt and Australian gardens. Navigating through native Australian bottlebrush and ecalyptus, guests are guided through the winding garden pathways by interpretive elements highlighting the similarities between the deserts of Southern California and the deserts of Australia, while being introduced to the effects of climate change on our world. Built to inspire guests and encourage change through action, each turn of this Australian journey brings new experiences, connections, and delights.

The welcoming trio of emu are the first animal species guests will discover along the path into the main habitat. Peering out from the eucalyptus trees or bathing in their 315 gallon pond, the emu can greet each guest or watch from afar in their 3,755 square foot habitat. Guests then formally enter Australian Adventures through the first set of automatic sliding glass doors that begin the double containment area. It is there, guests enter a special slow space where they can sit and watch the excitement of the Outback without entering the habitat. Relaxing Adirondack rocking chairs await under a cooling and misting system and kids of all ages can size themselves up with life-sized Australian marsupial cut-outs that line the expansive wall behind them. Once the outer door closes, the next set of automatic doors open into the main habitat where a Bennett’s wallaby may greet with a bounding welcome.

Free to explore at their leisure, guests are met with Conservation Ambassador Volunteers and

Guest Service Associates to enhance their journey. Along the path, they will not only be met by the free-roaming Bennett’s wallabies, but also by colorful budgies flying overhead. As guests travel the pathway, the call of the laughing kookaburra or the silent, watchful eye of the tawny frogmouth will lure them in to see these two remarkable species.

A towering 20-foot red rock outcropping habitat looms over the south-end of the habitat with a towering 15-foot waterfall and wandering stream where guests will get a glimpse of the mob of yellow-footed rock wallabies. The rock wallabies’ astonishing agility is on full display as they maneuver around the rockwork, designed to mimic their natural habitat. Both wallaby species have their own shaded lounges where they can remove themselves from guests when they choose to. These spaces have both warming and cooling features depending on the time of year and the animals’ needs.

Continuing along the pathway, guests will see the Critically Endangered brush-tailed bettong either nest-building or taking a snooze in their den. The bettongs’ neighbor, the echidna, can be caught napping in its climate-controlled indoor home through large glass windows. A peek into the work of an Animal Care Keeper is available through a glass panel door offering a look into the workspace. Here, guests will see communication boards full of meal recipes, tools, food supplies, and keepers preparing any number of items to fulfill their role as caretakers of these unique species. Completing the Australian Adventures experience are three spacious floor-to-ceiling reptile habitats for some of the scaly friends from the land down under.

Built into the design philosophy of the habitat, Animal Care Keepers create dynamic opportunities for guests and animals, such as the budgerigar flock flying around the aviary, a wallaby mob gathering for a special photo opportunity, or the chance to meet an ambassador blue-tongued skink or tawny frogmouth. The habitat’s builtin features like the flexible habitat space can be used for sunning a reptile, a unique Animal Care Keeper chat or even a “WOW” moment where a child can help feed an animal. Natural red rock seats can be used to relax and watch the activity, observe a training session, or a chat with a keeper. As guests exit and return into the slow space foyer, they can utilize the family restroom or new moms can get comfortable in “The Pouch,” the Zoo’s first dedicated mother’s room space. Upon exiting the Australian Adventures habitat, guests can head to the newly remodeled Kookaburra Café and Overlook that rises above the entire habitat and gives a bird’s eye view of the region’s landscape and the Australian action below.

From design, The Living Desert approached Australian Adventures through a modern lens of housing and managing Animal Ambassadors. Traditionally in zoos, animals in educational outreach and ambassador program roles are housed behind the scenes. In evaluating welfare assessment scores for ambassador animals with those on public view, this new design consideration allowed the Zoo to create a space that was geared toward elevating animal welfare, creating dynamic natural behavior and experiences for the animals, and increasing a greater positive impact with guests. Eight of the eleven species housed in Australian Adventures are trained to participate in guest programs within or out of the habitat. Through design of multi-species habitats and consideration of social groupings, when a specific animal is away from its primary habitat for a guest experience, the habitat still offers guests the opportunity to see other conspecifics of the species in the space. This innovative habitat design has moved The Living Desert forward in efforts to provide the best care practices for animals while providing interaction with guests and in support of education and conservation goals.

The Australian Adventures interpretive plan focuses on how the Southern Californian and Australian deserts face many of the same challenges due to climate change. Changing weather, prolonged droughts, and increased fires affect both regions; however, through the collective actions of people, it is possible to limit the devasting impacts of climate change.

The Big Idea

Deserts throughout Australia and California, and the diverse species that live there, face the same threats from climate change; people must work together worldwide to create positive change.

The interpretation of this message is delivered through static and digital signage, keeper chats, and interpretation from education staff and volunteers. Volunteers and staff were trained on climate change interpretation that highlighted the similarities between Southern Californian and Australian deserts allowing guests to make meaningful connections about how human impact is affecting natural habitats. By facilitating these interactions, our staff and volunteers were able to encourage guests to take action to reduce their carbon footprint and chose sustainable practices.

Key Messages

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Climate change threatens desert environments in many ways.

Excellent animal care is a core pillar of The Living Desert.

Healthy deserts are thriving ecosystems with diverse plant and animal species.

Although many miles separate us, the deserts of California and Australia can learn from each other to combat negative impacts from climate change.

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Key Interpretive Elements

Desert Similarities: Signage highlights how the deserts of Australia and California share many similarities and the diverse species living within them face similar threats from climate change.

Weather vs Climate: A dynamic weather station shares current and realtime weather from Tanami, Northern Territory, Australia and Palm Desert, California.

How do you Measure Up? A life-sized marsupial wall is a fun and interactive way to learn about Australia’s marsupials.

You Can Make a Difference: Signage encourages guests with actionable steps to help reduce the climate change impacts.

Daily Keeper Chats and Training Sessions: As the Animal Care Team completes their work, they showcase the daily animal care and husbandry for the guests.

Guest Safety

Guests navigate through the entrance garden and into the habitat on a designated 10.5 foot wide slip resistant cement pathway. Inside the habitat, the well-defined substrate distinction between the guest pathway and animal space and gardens minimizes guests unintentionally entering specified animal areas and the gardens. Guest areas were designed for ADA accessibility and ease for disabled, elderly, and children with even, flat pathways throughout the space. The uniform grade of the guest walkway onto portions of the animal space maintains a safe egress, distance, and comfort for the animals, while still maintaining an immersive experience for guests. Boulders and rockwork are accessible to guests and placed to allow for seating and rest, while preventing unsafe climbing opportunities.

The foyer into the walkthrough habitat has glider chair seating under fans and mister systems for comfort during the summer heat. The family restroom and mother’s room have climate-controlled HVAC systems.

The center of the habitat has an innovative LED lighting system 25 feet above the space that is adjustable to provide different guest and animal experiences and dimmable opportunities set to timers. It also allows natural nighttime lighting effect that is comfortable for animals during introductions or potential environmental stressors. All pathways of the gardens and habitat are lined with lighting.

Animal Safety

Guests enter and exit the walkabout area of the habitat via electronic sliding double-doors. Both sets of doors are timed to stagger in their opening and closing, to prevent animals from exiting the space, ensuring double containment. These doors are also monitored by Zoo personnel to ensure additional containment adherence. Should an animal breach through one electronic door, the door attendant will be nearby to secure the next set of doors and use a two-way radio to call for further assistance. At minimum, one Animal Care Keeper is in the habitat space during hours open to the public. Additionally, Guest Service staff and/or trained volunteers are within the space to observe and monitor both guests and animals.

The entire Australian Adventures habitat is designed to be fully enclosed with double containment doors leading into each direct animal area. 15,000 square feet of 1” hand-woven stainless-steel mesh completely encloses the walkabout animal habitat portion. The mesh containment protects the animal collection from natural desert predators in the area, while allowing spacious free flight opportunities for the Australian birds in the walkthrough. The Animal Care team takes precautionary measures of placing anti-strike materials on windows or mesh when introducing animals to a new space. The camera monitoring systems, located throughout each animal habitat and guest spaces, allows for review and assessment of animal behavior, as well as monitoring of guest influence and activity. Throughout the animal areas, there are misters, fans, and heaters to aid in further comfort and safety for the animals. The Bennett’s wallabies, yellow-footed rock wallabies, and budgerigars have choice options to be in many distinct locations of the habitat including a space tucked back from guest access, but still visible for guests. This area, called “the lounge” provides additional space for the animals should they not want to be near guests. All animals went through acclimatization and desensitization training prior to the habitat opening to guests. In addition, welfare was assessed before and after the habitat was opened. The Animal Care Team focused on conditioning resilient animals, and in turn, have observed the animals welcoming of being around guests. Prior to Australian Adventures opening to guests, the animals were quarantined within the habitat. All animals in the walkabout habitat are trained for recall to any location designated should there be an emergency need.

Australian Adventures addresses the wide diversity of challenges facing the species and ecosystems of the marvelous Australian continent, and in our representation of it here at The Living Desert. We have created habitats that have bred imperiled marsupials, engage the public in climate change and empower them to act, have created a structure based on reuse of earlier materials, and use it as a messaging tool to encourage donations to Australian conservation efforts.

The Big Idea

Australian Adventures is a conservation experience, complete with messaging about the threats that these species face and the many things that visitors and The Living

Desert are doing to make a positive impact for wildlife and wild places in Australia.

Breeding

The Living Desert is successfully addressing a request voiced at a recent Marsupial and Monotreme meeting for the need of new holders and breeding facilities for yellow-footed rock wallaby and brush-tailed bettongs. We decided to contribute to this pressing need to maintain genetic diversity within both species in Australian Adventures by specifically designing the spaces for these two species to accommodate for breeding. The yellow-footed rock wallabies have responded to the opportunity, with three viable and vibrant joeys being born shortly after moving into their new habitat. The intricate rockwork in their habitat, with many crevices and opportunities for maintaining their own territories, has helped them feel at home and safe enough to breed. Similarly, for the bettongs, we have seen copulation events. The Living Desert is confident that both species of great conservation value will continue to enjoy their new homes and produce many future offspring to help maintain these species in AZA organizations.

Climate Change Action

Messaging about climate change is central to the entire Australian Adventures experience and makes connections between a guest’s individual experiences in the Southwestern United States and those of a person living in the deserts of Australia. The interpretive messages highlight the causes and impacts of climate change and finish by empowering guests to make changes to reduce the magnitude and impact of climate change on desert ecosystems in North America and Australia.

As guests enter the winding pathway, they see the many ecological similarities between the Coachella Valley and central Australia – meteorologically, ecologically, and their sensitivity to climate change. Guests go on to experience a series of digital images about the disproportionate impacts of climate change on desert ecosystems in Australia and the Coachella Valley. Conservation Ambassador Volunteers are trained in climate change interpretation and are stationed throughout the experience to emphasize the challenges of this problem and how it relates to the animals in their species’ natural habitat. As guests leave Australian Adventures, they see an engaging multi-panel sign describing the many simple lifestyle changes that they can make to help mitigate the impacts of climate change – to benefit both Australia and the Southwestern United States.

Sustainable Building

To reduce the impact on climate change and the planet more broadly, The Living Desert created a building that highlights sustainability in its very bones. The walled structure enclosing Australian Adventures was pointedly repurposed from the previous retail plant nursery. This decision obviated the emissions of many tons of carbon due to the cement and mortar that would have otherwise been necessary to build a new structure, as well as haul away and dispose of the existing structure. To complement this, solar tubes were installed in the reptile rooms to reduce electricity consumption. Drought-friendly landscaping, as is throughout the Zoo, uses low flow drip-irrigation and drought-tolerant and desert-adapted plants throughout Australian Adventures.

Financial Contributions

The Living Desert encourages our guests to make financial contributions to our conservation collaborators in Australia. To model this behavior, we donated $10,000 to Zoos Victoria during the firestorm that devastated wildlife in Australia in late 2019-early 2020. We continue to support our partners in Australia.

Habitat Design

From its inception, the primary goal for Australian Adventures was to increase animal welfare by creating large spaces with varying opporunties for them to exhibit natural behavior, and by providing the animals choice throughout the space. This new habitat was to be primarily the home for the animals and secondarily a home the guests visit – a completely immersive experience for both animals and humans. This is not only an immersive experience, but a transparent one too. The Animal Care Team can share all the work they do with the animals throughout the day with our guests, including cleaning, feeding, training, veterinary exams and offering enriching experiences. The animals who live in this space are not locked into any holding in the evenings and released each morning, but rather have access to their areas throughout the day and night. They have access to shade, water, cooling/warming spots, guest exclusion zones, so they can decide where they want to be.

Animal Management

The Bennett’s wallabies may interact with guests as they walk along the pathway or they can watch from a distance. The Bennett’s wallabies will interact with keepers during training sessions, readily eat browse or drink from a pond while guests walk by and watch. Throughout the day, they can be seen lounging under a tree or bouncing along the pathways. They readily utilize the lounge space that has mister fans for the hot summer days or radiant heaters for the rare winter chilly nights.

The yellow-footed rock wallabies can be seen scaling the looming twenty-foot red rock wall built to showcase their extraordinary rock-climbing skills. They can often be seen at the highest point of the wall with a bird’s eye-view of the entire habitat. The yellow-footed rock wallabies will come down each morning to be hand-fed during their training sessions with the Animal Care Team. The habitat’s slow-moving stream allows them to get a quick drink of water, augmented by their own lounge to cool down or warm up depending on the season.

The kookaburra aviary allows the birds to have a full view surrounding them. They can watch the emus’ antics on one side and the walk-through habitat on the other. The tawny frogmouths enjoy the open-air space above the bettongs, blending in perfectly with their trees to surprise guests when they make the slightest movement. The free-flying budgies offer another dynamic layer to this habitat as they fly above it all. The emus can observe everything going on around them, and can be seen sunning themselves, finding a shady spot under a tree or cooling off under the misters or in their private pond. The three reptile enclosures were designed for versatility. Depending on the species, the reptile habitats can be quickly managed to provide one, two, or three habitat areas.

Post-Opening Modifications

As the space opened to guests, there were minor adjustments made throughout the habitat.

Door Timing- The double containment doors had to be adjusted to allow for the proper timing of the opening and closing of both to allow for entry and exit of guests. Waterfall Safety - As an additional safety precaution during joey season, the waterfall in the yellow-footed rock wallaby habitat would be turned off to allow the joeys to safely explore the habitat as they emerged from the pouch. As the joeys grow and are confident traversing the habitat, water will be added to the stream at a low level and increased over time, with the waterfall being the last thing added into the environment. This process is to prevent accidental drowning by young animals who are not yet familiar with their surroundings. Tawny Frogmouth Move - Flexibility and options were at the forefront when designing this habitat. One of those options was to move the tawny frogmouths from an enclosed habitat to the greater mesh enclosure allowing them to perch within the bettong habitat. The move happened about six months after original opening, once it was determined that these specific individuals would be successful outside of the enclosed habitat. Reptile Shade Panels – As the sun’s positioning throughout the day and year progressed, it was discovered that glare was limiting guest viewing opportunities into the reptile habitats. A uniquely themed and effective solution was developed. Tall, colorful, and adjustable panels were added in front of the reptile glass enclosures to improve visibility into the habitats. These panels can be turned at different angles depending on the sun’s position.