Despite the cancellation of the $200M Arctic Shores project the Calgary Zoo isn't jumping ship in the ebbing economy

2009-02-02

Michael Platt, Calgary Sun

Anaconda-length lineups and a budget squeezed tighter than a python's lunch.

Such is the best-of-times, worst-of-times reality of operating a zoo during an economic slump -- people clamouring to see what you can no longer afford to offer.

For Calgary, the bad news (and the big news, if you've been watching the ongoing makeover on St. George's Island) is the total cancellation of Arctic Shores, the mega-project showcasing polar bears and seals.

"We have chosen not to go ahead because our concept was to build the largest, most sophisticated space in the world, and we can't do that," said Dr. Clement Lanthier, Calgary Zoo president and CEO.

"Our commitment was to provide the best environment for the polar bears, and we don't want to compromise.

"We can build a very small bathtub for seals and we can build a traditional pen for polar bears, but this not what we want for Calgarians, this is not what we want for the animals."

Like so many things in these days of downturn, Arctic Shores is a victim of cash: There's not enough of it.

"The concept was for a humongous building, and we defined that project just before the last boom in the oil industry, and a project that was $100 million soon became $200 million," said Lanthier.

"Even if we are very successful at fundraising, we realized that is unachievable."

That firms struggling to keep staff can't justify funding a zoo display is a no-brainer -- and thus, two years after the beluga whale portion of Arctic Shores was cancelled due to costs, the exhibit is dead. You'd think having to scrap the most ambitious expansion in years would leave the zoo reeling, but "recession" is actually a positive word in the zoological dictionary.

"In many markets, when there's a recession, the attendance at zoos goes up -- it's cheap and it's close to home," said Lanthier. For Calgary, with a human population that exploded during the boom, it will likely add up to a record-setting summer -- an awww-inspiring baby gorilla and visiting Koala colony can't help but keep the turnstiles spinning.

There's still some good news on the re-development front, including the new Enmax Conservatory, and Antarctic Landing, an ambitious display putting penguins and people in close proximity (for more on the penguin plans, watch the video on calgarysun.com).

The Antarctic project will expose the public to climate change and its impact on frozen environments, something Arctic Shores was meant to do. Lanthier, a veterinarian and walrus researcher who took the helm in Calgary two years ago, says the cancellation of the polar bears exhibit might please some animal-rights extremists, but the reality is a blow to Canada's white bears.

"It's off the table until somebody comes to the zoo and says, I want this and I'm willing to pay," said Lanthier.

That will happen, says the vet who's spent the past 15 summers in the arctic, when polar bears reach a point where only captive breeding can save them from extinction -- a day that's on the horizon.

Lanthier doesn't hide his contempt for animal rights groups who lash out, without considering the role zoos play in conservation.

"They are people with opinions, but their credentials don't exist -- they're opinionated, but that's it," he said.

"We need to ask them, what have they done for research, conservation; what have they done for those animals?"

He's a staunch defender of Calgary's record, despite some well-publicized misfortune, such as the death of 41 stingrays and a baby elephant last year.

"One thing for sure -- all of the animals in the zoo will die eventually," said Lanthier.

"We have to recognize they don't live forever."