Landscaping a Zoo
On this week's episode of Bob's LIVE, I talked about a recent trip I took to the Columbus Zoo during Cultivate21. It was a somewhat unique visit in that it was a guided tour by the Zoo's landscaping staff. I was pretty interesting to learn about the all the ways they have to work to accommodate both the animals and the guests.
Safety first!
Both animal and guest safety have to be taken into account when planning and maintaining the landscape at the zoo. When it comes to the guests, the landscaping team has to make sure that branches are out of reach, and also that there are no poisonous plants that little visitors might be tempted by. One of the features at the zoo is a boat ride with animatronic dinosaurs. How they trim the tree limbs around the ride is to simply have a landscaper ride in one of the boats with a pair of clippers. If they can reach it, it gets cut off.
A similar approach is used for the animals with a couple considerations in mind. For critters that climb, a tree hanging down into an enclosure can act as an avenue of escape. Likewise, trees coming into contact with the enclosure itself might pose a risk. For example, they have to monitor trees that hang over the top of some of the aviaries. A limb crashing through the netting above the enclosure during a storm wouldn't be a good thing. Finally, some plants local to Ohio might not work well for the diet of some of the animals so they have to keep in mind what types of plants are growing in or near an enclosure.
Browsable Plants
This bring me to the plants the animals can eat. Whenever the landscapers trim trees or other plants in the zoo, they have a list of plants that are various animals can eat. They then give these to the zookeepers who incorporate the clippings into the animals' regular diet. We all love a little variety! Also, it helps the zoo "recycle" the trimmings. They let nothing go to waste.
Zoo Brew
They let nothing go to waste … even the waste. A couple times a day an unassuming garbage truck backs down an access road to be filled with landscape clippings, used animal bedding, and tons of poo. (They have elephants.) This then gets shipped to Price Farms Organics. There it dries in the sun before being mixed with tons of other organic components like table scraps from a local correctional facility and coffee grounds from a large food processing company. It is the aged for up to two years forming a rich compost. Some of this Zoo Brew then makes its way back to the zoo to be used in the landscaping. They're also working on experimenting with a Zoo Brew Tea as a fertilizer.
The Crew
The Columbus Zoo covers 580 acres. I was amazed to learn that they have a total of 5 landscapers on staff. Umm. That's over 100 acres per staffer! It is amazing what they do to cultivate an immersive landscape that transports you to the different environments these animals call home. (I’ve been to Africa, and they manage to pull it off quite well in central Ohio.) To learn more check out our recent episode of Bob's LIVE below.