Calgary Zoo putting wildlife protection first
Posted Jul 24, 2015 7:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Calgary Zoo has revitalized its Animal Welfare committee to ensure the protection of wildlife will be a top priority.
Manager of Visitor Education, Lisa McDonald confirmed the new Calgary Zoo Welfare, Ethics and Research Committee is a combination of previous councils that will create a consistent structure for ideas and concerns from staff, volunteers, and the public.
She said four community experts will join a group of six zoo representatives, “We have an animal welfare person, we have a person from a post-secondary institution, with all that experience, someone from the wildlife conservation sector, as well as member from our board of trustees.”
John Ripley is a former Alberta SPCA Director/President, Bill Fisher is Chair of the Banff Community Foundation, Dr. Michael Quinn brings post-secondary experience from Mount Royal University and Dr. Terry Hunt is a current Calgary Zoo Trustee board member and University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine skills coach.
“The issue with animal welfare is that it’s constantly evolving and changing,” McDonald added, “and for us to be at the top of our game, we need to make sure that everybody is paying attention to developments in the field.”
On top of this new welfare committee, the zoo has also spent more than $2.5 million on a facility improvements for animal care, in the last year.
In addition, the Calgary Zoo has been recognized as on of the top five in the world for conservation research.
