Rossifari Podcast - Zoos, Aquariums, and Animal Conservation

Today, the Safari heads to Gulfport, MS, for an interview with two incredible people who work at the Mississippi Aquarium! We talk about what it was like to open a brand new aquarium in 2020 as Covid was wreaking havoc on both construction and zoological facilities, what type of planning goes into building an aquarium in an area that is affected by hurricanes, some of the amazing animals that live...

Dateline: December 1, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we start with our births, including a really exciting announcement about baby red pandas, a wild rhino birth that ties to the Cincinnati Zoo, a new sloth at the Dallas Zoo, and new penguins at the Toledo Zoo and Memphis Zoo! W...

Today, the Safari sits down with Sarah Lynn Bowser of the Oakland Zoo! We've had her on for her own episode and for the AZA Conference Recap, and now you get a second interview with this incredibly passionate human with a big heart for bettering the lives of animals. I truly think that when all is said and done in her career, Sarah will go down as one of the people who had the biggest impact...

Dateline: November 24, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we start our births and deaths, including the births of some new tigers, the first rhino born in Arizona in decades, a tree kangaroo joey, and more. We also say goodbye to a beautiful juvenile bonobo at the Cincinnati Zoo, a...

Today, the Safari heads back to a place I'm very thankful for...the Greensboro Science Center! Today, we are talking to Lizzie Lohr about her very unique and cool position of swing keeper! She literally gets to take care of ALL the animals at the zoo at different times, but there is more to her job than just that! You'll get to learn about the unique position Lizzie has, and also a littl...

Dateline: November 17, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we start our births and deaths, including a rhino at the Virginia Zoo, a koala at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, three tiger cubs at the Jacksonville Zoo, and more. We also say goodbye to an amazing Pallas' cat at Hogle Zoo a...

Today, the Safari heads to the North Carolina Zoo to visit the Rocky Coast area of the zoo, which focuses on polar bears, arctic foxes, and an incredible harbor seal that you'll get to meet in the episode! We talk about a lot of cool training stuff, really get into the personalities of the animals in question, and share some of what makes the North Carolina Zoo a unique facility with a beauti...

Dateline: November 10, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we start with the biggest story of the week: The giant pandas have departed the National Zoo for their new homes in China. We then move on to our births and deaths, including the births of two giraffe in different places, the...

Today, the Safari heads to Providence, RI, to visit Roger Williams Park Zoo, but we don't actually talk to anyone on staff there! Instead, we talk to Amy Fennell, the Supervisor of Training for Natural Encounters, Inc., and the person running the bird shows that took place at RWPZ this summer! We discuss what goes into running a free-flight bird show, what goes into partnering with a zoo to p...

Dateline: November 3, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we start with our births and deaths, including the birth of some secret red panda cubs and also a Baird's tapir at Metro Richmond Zoo. We also say goodbye to an incredible polar bear at the North Carolina Zoo, an unexpect...

Today, the Safari heads to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to talk to Tessa McKelliget, co-host of the Trainer Talks and Tails Podcast! Tess has a great story to tell as we discuss caring for koalas and training free flying birds! We also talk about Rocky, the latest resident at Lone Pine...a Lumholtz tree kangaroo! So you KNOW I was happy! This episode also features the first time I've played a ga...

Dateline: October 27, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   This entire episode is co-hosted by Daisy and Tessa from Trainer Talks and Tails! In Zoo News, we talk about a new baby giraffe at Oakland, three tiger cubs at Nashville, and ten new orioles at the National Zoo. We also say goodbye to some...

Today, the Safari heads across the world to spend some time in Australia with some new friends! Over the next week, you'll be hearing from my friends Daisy and Tessa, the co-hosts of Trainer Talks and Tails, and incredible podcast in which they talk about animal training and life in zoos and aquariums, mostly focusing on people in Australia, where they are based. Today, we talk to Daisy Barre...

Dateline: October 20, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about an exciting engagement, some great hoofstock births, the passing of some lemurs at the Trevor Zoo, the death of the oldest rhino in Europe, and the loss of an otter at the Greensboro Science Center. We also talk...

Today, the Safari stays in Greensboro, but heads to a different part of the Science Center...the aquarium! We talk to Elizabeth Hincker and Katie Benya about all kinds of really cool stuff including jelly propagation, training rays and eels, seahorses, and so much more! This is a side of the GSC, and frankly of aquariums, that you haven't heard much about before!  EPISODE LINKS:  Listen to Jo...

Dateline: October 13, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about some rhino births, and some really sad passings, including an incredible sea lion named Kiah that you'll get to learn about from her trainer Krystin. We also talk about an incredible new program at the South...

Today, the Safari heads back to Greensboro, North Carolina, to spend some time with our friends at the Greensboro Science Center! While a lot of my time that day was spending hanging with the red panda kindergarten class and the bintlets, I made sure to spend some time with Magic Mike Motsch talking about the pigmy hippo family (including baby Huckleberry), cassowaries, and Bekah. Well, not so muc...

Dateline: October 6, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about births at the National Zoo, Potawatomi Zoo, Zoo Tampa, Central Park Zoo, and Brandywine Zoo. We then say goodbye to beloved animals at Roger Williams Park Zoo, the Oregon Zoo, and the Jacksonville Zoo. We also tal...

Today, the Safari heads to the Nashville Zoo to talk to Jake Belair, who is returning to the podcast after being my very first guest! We take a tour through the ambassador building at the Nashville Zoo, talking about the incredible animals that live there including binturongs, tamanduas, a baby vulture, and so many more! We also talk a lot about behavior and training, and how The Animal Behavior M...

Dateline: September 29, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about another new red panda, twin Amur tigers at the Toledo Zoo, a new orangutan at the Denver Zoo, the loss of two cotton-top tamarins at the Utica Zoo, an amazing story out of the Toronto Zoo, the farewell to giant...

Today, the Safari settles down in Nashville to talk to a whole lot of people about the incredible experience we all shared at the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians 2023 Conference! We talk with Dr. Meredith Persky of the Jacksonville Zoo about the importance of the conference, how her episode with me actually helped me out at this conference, and so much more! Dr. Taylor Gregory of the Gre...

Dateline: September 22, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about new panda cubs, the closure of the issues at the Columbus Zoo that came from the previous administration, a new "documentary" to actively avoid, the name of the red panda cub at the San Diego Zoo, AZA...

Today, the Safari is coming to you from Columbus, Ohio, and the AZA Annual Conference. Sarah Lynn Bowser, Tiffany James, and Natali Berry are all back on the pod to share their experiences of the conference. You'll even get to go inside a few of the sessions to hear a little bit of Sarah's two presentations. This is the best thing other than being there!  ROSSIFARI LINKS:  patreon.com/ro...

Dateline: September 15, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   In Zoo News, we talk about new panda cubs, new bintlets, a new spotless giraffe (or an all-single-spot giraffe, you decide), the passing of a wolf I love and a red panda in the UK, the tragic death of a zookeeper in Europe, a new Steller...

Today, the Safari heads back to the Nashville Zoo to spend time with a former guest who we talked to at her previous facility, Autumn Lindey. Now working at Nashville with the primates there, Autumn takes us through the incredible animals she works at, discusses how a good living situation helps with zoo work, and so much more! We then bring you some very special audio from a very special animal a...