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This Tuesday we also heard from Carrie Creaser, the Director of Fund Development for the Valley Zoo Development Society. Their mandate is to raise funds and promote awareness to ensure the continued development of the Edmonton Valley Zoo. The society is a registered charity. The Edmonton Valley Zoo has been in continuous operation for sixty years and is continually changing. The Zoo’s goal is to educate people about the natural world around them. She used quote from Baba Dioum which says: ‘We only protect what we love, We only love what we understand, We only understand what we are taught.’
Zoos and aquariums attract more visitors each year than all of the major sporting franchises combined. This provides a get opportunity to educate people about becoming strong towards of our environment and to promote the preservation of species. Our zoo alone saw half a million visitors last year.
In 2007 the Edmonton Valley Zoo began an ambitious plan to transform the zoo. The first phase, Arctic Shores, opened in 2012. The second phase, The Urban Farm, opened this spring. The next phase, called ‘Nature’s Wild Backyard’, will include an ‘Over Zone’, to show off the animals that live above us in the tees, a ‘Between Zone’ to show off animals that live on land and in water and an ‘Under Zone’ to show off animals that live underground. The highlight of this phase will be a new Red Panda habitat. This phase also includes an area called ‘The Yard’, which provides plenty of space for adults and children to rest, have an ice cream or lunch and run off some energy playing.
The society receives some funding form the City of Edmonton, but also does a lot of fundraising throughout the year through various activities. Some of these include behind the scenes animal experiences, special events such as the Christmas light display, ‘Zoominescence’, a food vendor and zoo visit in June entitled’ Zoofest’, a fashion show, entitled ‘Zoolander’ and an event in August called ‘Zoobrew’, where you can sample brews from fifty different vendors. Another of their fundraisers is the ‘Adopt and Exhibit’ program, which our club has done. There are many ways that we can help to support our zoo that are both entertaining and educational at the same time.
