12 minute read
summary of project planning, goals and impact
SECTION D Summary OF Project Planning, Goals and Impact
how does the exhibit fit your long-range strategic plan?
The mission of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is desert conservation through preservation, education, and appreciation. Founded in 1970 as a nature reserve focused on preserving a small section of the Colorado Desert, today, The Living Desert is focused on telling the compelling and impactful stories of the world’s desert habitats, flora, and fauna. Set on 1,200 total acres, The Living Desert features 150 animal species and over 1,500 plant species on 80 acres of developed zoo and gardens. Given the Zoo’s location and climate, The Living Desert is unwavering in its commitment to the deserts of the world and the incredible diversity held within those ecosystems.
The Living Desert’s Master Plan was updated in 2015 to include the continent of Australia to augment the Zoo’s Wild Americas and African Savanna habitats. From a conservation perspective, many of the ecological challenges facing Southern California, such as climate change, drought, forest fires, population expansion, and the loss of natural resources, are also occurring in Australia. This similarity made for a natural comparison between the two regions and a compelling argument as to why people should care about climate change. In addition, the diversity of animal species in Australia, that are climatically compatible with the local climate, gave a broad choice of mammal, avian, and reptile species to incorporate into the habitat. Australian Adventures was the first new major habitat construction at The Living Desert since the addition of the jaguar habitat in 2011. The area chosen for Australian Adventures has a long and storied history of uses throughout The Living Desert’s history. Originally built in 1975, the original structure had previously served as a plant nursery, gift shop, weather station, and office space. It was long overdue for a renovation, and the new Australian Adventures habitat was the perfect fit. After a series of planning and architectural meetings, the detailed footprint of Australia was finalized in January 2019. After thirteen months of construction, Australian Adventures was ready for guests.
Today, Australian Adventures is an immersive, walkabout experience for guests to explore and learn about the incredible wildlife of Australia’s deserts. Set within a nearly one-acre footprint, Australian Adventures highlights some of the incredible biodiversity of Australia’s outback.
Australian Adventures is an engaging, immersive experience featuring four species of marsupials and numerous birds and reptiles. Guests begin their Australian journey with a face-to-face meeting with iconic emu, who might be seen splashing in their ponds or running to greet each other. And the adventure really begins after entering the walkabout habitat, where Bennett’s wallabies will bounce alongside exploring guests. There are no barriers on the walkabout path, so the animals may even come for a closer look. Free-flying budgies welcome and delight, along with the watchful tawny frogmouths and singing kookaburras. Yellow-footed wallabies gracefully scale the Australian rock formations showing off their climbing abilities, and a variety of Australian reptiles bask in the sunny habitat.
Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world, with deserts receiving less than 10 inches of rainfall per year. Many similarities exist between Californian and Australian deserts, but the continent’s geographic isolation, long geologic history, and diverse climates result in sustaining a variety of animals that are unique to Australia. However, both the Californian and Australian deserts face the impacts of our world’s changing climate. Longer-lasting heat waves lead to longer and more intense droughts, which increase wildfire risks, and more non-native species that crowd out natives. The more that we can share this message with guests, the better hope we have of making positive changes that will impact us all.
what was the exhibit designed to do?
goal a: immersive guest experience
Desired Outcome
Create lasting memories and impactful moments for guests by creating engaging and immersive experiences and animal habitats. By choosing Bennett’s wallabies as the signature species for this habitat, the animals are able to roam where they feel comfortable, while the guests remain on the paved pathways.
Evaluation Method
Quantitively evaluate guest experience feedback via social media review sites, etc.
Results
The immersive, walk-through experience has been very well received. It is consistently mentioned as a must-see on travel review sites. Thirty-one reviews, submitted between December 2018 and May 2021, were analyzed. One review was submitted in 2018, one in 2019, 13 in 2020, and 16 in 2021. Overall, 24 comments were purely positive, five were mostly positive with some sort of complaint embedded (e.g. overpriced items/experiences, lack of dining seating, issues at Giraffe Feeding habitat, etc.), and one was negative. Of the 31 reviews, the Australia habitat was specifically mentioned in 30. Five of these 30 (17%) mentioned Australia in anticipation of its construction or grand opening. These five were excluded from analysis hereafter to focus on opinions of those who experienced Australia. Seven of 25 (28%) mentioned or implied that Australia was one of their favorite feature(s) of the Zoo. Ten of 25 (40%) generally described they enjoyed the Australia habitat. For example, “We enjoyed seeing... the kangaroos” or the “Australia exhibit is a great way for you to... end” your visit to the Zoo. Fourteen of 25 (56%) people highlighted the ‘free-roaming’ quality of the wallabies and/or that they were able to get ‘up close’ to the wallabies. Eight to nine people (of the fourteen; 61%) specifically linked this feature (up close interactions) to why they enjoyed the habitat experience; others simply described that one could get ‘up close’ to the wallabies without explicitly linking the feature to their enjoyment of the habitat. One person linked the multi-species feature of Australia to why the habitat was their favorite.
goal b: attendance growth
Desired Outcome
Increase attendance by 10% compared to FYE 2019 through the addition of a new and exciting signature species and habitat.
Evaluation Method
Australian Adventures opened mid-June 2020 upon our COVID-19 reopening. To track the change in attendance, we compared the total number of visitors from June 15, 2020 - June 1, 2021, with the parallel period of June 15, 2018 – June 1, 2019. We chose to exclude 2019-2020 as an outlier due to our COVID-19 closures.
Results
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, zoo closures and restrictions, attendance to The Living Desert grew by 19% in 2020-2021 compared to the same period 2018-2019.
Daytime Attendance
(general admission and membership)
6/15/2018 - 6/1/2019 = 356,352
6/15/2020 - 6/1/2021 = 425,496
Evaluation Method
Guest surveys (n=100) were collected electronically by tablet from February through March of 2020 prior to the opening of the Australian Adventures habitat. These surveys would serve as a baseline for the formative attitudinal data of our visitors. From April through May of 2021, guest surveys (n=100) were collected electronically by tablet at the exit of the Australian Adventures habitat upon the completion of the guest’s visit. These surveys incorporated the same questions to compare our guest’s perception about climate change before they experienced the habitat to after they visited.
Desired Outcome 1
Increase understanding for guests that human activity is impacting natural ecosystems. The Living Desert is committed to spreading awareness about climate change and how it affects the environment. Through graphic interpretation and engagement opportunities, this message is shared with guests. Action steps are shown to provide guest ways to make a positive difference for the deserts of the world, like in Southern California and Australia.
Results
When pre-visit survey data was compared to post-visit survey data, there was a 16.9% increase in guests who Strongly Agreed that human activity is having an impact on natural ecosystems.
Desired Outcome 2
Increase understanding for guests that the climate is changing.
Results
When pre-visit survey data was compared to post-visit survey data, there was a 34.9% increase in guests who Strongly Agreed that the climate has changed where they live.
Guests were asked to rank the activities they felt most contributed to carbon emissions on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the greatest contributing factor and 1 being the least.
Desired Outcome 3
Guests understand the continued challenges Australia is experiencing from the effects of climate change.
Results
To assess our guest’s continued awareness of Australia’s effects from wildfires and climate change we asked visitors to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statement in the post-visit survey. After visiting the habitat, 87% of our guests rated that they agree or strongly agree.
goal d: Superior Animal Care and Welfare
Desired Outcome
Use habitat design, animal husbandry, and training to promote animal welfare for each individual.
Evaluation Method
The Animal Care team has three guiding principles: • Provide an excellent, optimal level of well-being for each individual in our care, both animals and humans. • Provide high quality veterinary care for each species in our care. • Provide engaging and inspiring messaging for guests, so they can make a positive difference in the world. Throughout the habitat design process, these guiding principles were the pillars of how the space would come together. Throughout the process, the animals’ needs remained top priority without sacrificing a meaningful experience for our guests. Built-in options allow for dynamic experiences and give the animals the opportunity to make some of their own choices. Through daily animal observations, the Animal Care team evaluates and determines if the animals are comfortable and/or have shown they take advantage of the choices offered to move through the habitat as they wish.
Results
From its early conception phase, this habitat was designed to create a balance between guest enjoyment and animal welfare. One of its biggest advancements to welfare is the ability to leave the animals in the guest-facing habitat 24 hours a day. This allows the animals to display natural behaviors, not only in front of the guests, but they are also afforded the same opportunities without guests present.
For the Bennett’s wallabies, topography changes and foliage in the middle of the habitat create a high look-out point, while allowing guests the opportunity to see the wallabies from a variety of angles. The wallaby “lounges”, are our modern take on animal holding areas. Located in two areas and equipped with fans, heaters and misters, climbing structures and automatic feeders, these areas are viewable by the guests, but only accessible by the animals, which gives the more reserved wallabies a guest exclusion zone. Located just off the guest pathway, large natural, flat rocks provide for elevated locations for training creating a comfortable zone for the wallabies, while giving guests an inside look into animal care. Guests can watch behaviors being trained such as recall, weighing, and even injections anywhere throughout the habitat, or be included in a “WOW” moment between Animal Care Keeper and animal.
The yellow-footed rock wallaby habitat is at a lower grade than the guest pathway which allows the guests and wallabies to be at the same height, as this species is more comfortable up high. Similar to the Bennett’s wallabies, these animals have a “lounge” in which they can access heat, misters, fans, climbing structures and automatic feeders. The rock wall of this habitat features many alcoves that provide for natural, comfortable, and cool resting zones. This species is more reserved, so training occurs on the rocks, where wallabies are a comfortable distance from the guests. Moreover, the yellow-footed rock wallabies have bred successfully and are raising joeys in this new space.
The “flexible habitat space” gives reptiles the opportunity to exhibit natural behaviors like basking and exploration. The budgerigars have a large variety of trees to perch in, which has created successful social structure and natural perching opportunities. A large bird bath creates a water source for both wallabies and budgerigars.
Due to the Zoo’s three-month COVID-19 closure, the animals within Australian Adventures were given the rare opportunity to slowly acclimate to the habitat without guests. This time allowed the Animal Care Team to work with the animals in a more relaxed state without the pressures of a strict opening time. This became an important part of the introduction process for the animals, as they were able to move, train, and learn about the habitat at their own pace.
Specific Animal Training and Welfare Success Examples
• Bennett’s wallabies and yellow-footed rock wallabies reliably participate in training sessions, eat from and interact with VIPs and guests in spontaneous engagement sessions, and reliably participate in their individual husbandry care.
• Budgerigars are trained for A-B flight and crate.
• Emus are conditioned to eat from VIPs and guests and participate in husbandry and medical care.
• 70% of behavioral goals are complete or in progress.
• Australian Adventures’ animals scored an average 93% on welfare assessments in 2021. (The Living Desert’s average is 87%)
