Rossifari Podcast - Zoos, Aquariums, and Animal Conservation

Dateline: September 8, 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 have an amazing story out of Australia Zoo, talk about the bravery of Ron Magill, welcome orangutans to the Naples Zoo, talk about the Memphis Zoo layoffs, discuss huge updates coming to Buttonwood Park Zoo, and so much mo...

Today, the Safari stays at Adventure Aquarium for a discussion with another friend of mine, Sam Ehinger. Sam is a biologist with a really unique position at the aquarium...she's in charge of the quarantine area, seeing a constantly rotating crew of animals as they prepare for life on exhibit, recover from injuries, and generally get to be on time out from the rest of the aquarium collection....

Dateline: September 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 have a long section of birth announcements featuring red pandas, giant pandas, gharials at Fort Worth Zoo, beavers at San Diego, puffins, orangutans, mandrills, and more! We also talk about the passing of Mila the tiger, T...

Today, the Safari stays settled down at Adventure Aquarium as I bring you my interview with Lauren Belcher, the Content Marketing Coordinator at Adventure Aquarium. You'll hear all about how Lauren got this position through an interesting and unique path, what effect being on social media constantly can have on a person, and also what she did to become the Sea Star of the Year at Adventure Aq...

Dateline: August 25, 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 the death of Toki, the orca who lived at Miami SeaQuarium until this week. We also discuss a sad loss of an ocelot at Beardsley Zoo, a gorgeous orangutan, and some hoofstock. We also discuss the most distinguished...

Today, the Safari heads back to my home aquarium, Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ, to start three weeks of wonderful and different interviews. We start with Colleen McKeon, a biologist who came on the podcast to talk about frogs. Of course, being me, I didn't let her get to frogs until more than half way through the interview, but once I did, she shared a ton of really cool stuff with me abo...

Dateline: August 18, 2023. Rossifari Zoo News is back with a round up of the latest news in the world of zoos, aquariums, conservation, and animal weirdness!   We start with an interview from a very special guest, Miles Rossi! We discuss an amazing experience Miles got to have this week! In Zoo News, we say hello to a new duiker at the Kansas City Zoo, a new prehensile porcupine at the National Zo...

Today, the Safari heads to Baltimore, MD to visit the Maryland Zoo! The Maryland Zoo was the first zoo I fell in love with as a child, so it is extra special to have it on the podcast! I sit down with Hassan Bayyan, the manager of the Barnyard section of the zoo, to talk goats, pigs, and more...but we go way beyond that.  Hassan has taken a really unique path to zookeeping, and his story is an ins...

Dateline: August 11, 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 have Bekah and Kelly from GSC come tell you some exciting red panda news! We then say hello to a new mandrill at Disney, a new sloth a Roger Williams Park Zoo, five new tiny lemurs at Duke Lemur Center, and many new births....

Today, the Safari heads to Somaliland (well, on Zoom, anyway), to sit down with Dr. Laurie Marker. We discuss her life pre-cheetah, how she got into cheetah conservation, many of the conservation methods she helped pioneer, the surprising way dogs are helping save cats, and so much more! We even get into the reintroduction of cheetahs into India that is being spearheaded by CCF!  PLEASE consider d...

Dateline: August 4, 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 discuss the passing of a beloved red panda, but also share about five new ones born, talk about the giant panda pseudo pregnancy at ZooAtlanta, talk about dogs at the Maryland Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, share a cool pregn...

Today, the Safari heads to SeaWorld Australia to sit down with veterinarian and sea mammal rescuer Dr. Claire Madden! Claire is an incredibly popular figure on Instagram (@drclairemadden) and is an incredible guest. In this episode, we talk about the importance of passion, the path Claire took to her incredibly unique job, some of the unexpected road bumps one encounters while trying to save a str...

Dateline: July 28, 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 discuss the controversial passing of a legend at Mote Marine Lab, exciting births at the San Diego Zoo and Zoo New England, the unfortunate passing of an African Painted Dog at the Tulsa Zoo, an amazing story from the Topeka Z...

Today, the Safari launches Season 4 with one of the biggest names in the animal training world, Steve Martin! We spend an entire hour discussing training strategies, how zoos can get better at this critical component of care, what great training looks like, which zoos do the best training, and so much more! This episode is a must listen for anyone in the field or anyone who wants a really unique a...

Dateline: July 21, 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 discuss births and deaths including a momentous few moments at Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, a shocking birth at Columbus, baby pandas galore, a devastating fire at a Florida facility, a way to see a zoo in Massachusetts for free,...

Today, the Safari stays in Greensboro for our Season 3 Finale! Today, we talk to Macy Anderson, with help from Kelly Rauch and Bekah Robinson, all about her job at the Greensboro Science Center. Along the way, we talk about two incredibly important-to-the-podcast topics. First, we address the bintlets that were recently born at the facility! Then, we finally have it out once and for all: are okapi...

Dateline: July 14, 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 discuss births and deaths including red panda cubs, share the names of some panda cubs you've come to know recently, talk about a gorilla with screen time issues, talk about a good old lemur at the Good Zoo, and so much m...

Today, the Safari heads to the Greensboro Science Center for the start of our two-part season finale! Today we focus on Kelly Rauch and her incredible work with the red pandas at the zoo, including Ravi, one of the most rambunctious and adorable pandas alive! We then go and spend some time with the adult pandas, before sitting back down for an update that was recorded after the new panda cubs were...

Dateline: July 7, 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 discuss births and deaths including red panda cubs, talk about some new animals and controversy about them at Zoo Boise, talk about incredible new exhibits at the Philadelphia Zoo, Toronto Zoo, and Nashville Zoo, say hi to the...

Today, the Safari stays in Naples, Florida to discuss one of the coolest training programs/shows I've seen at any zoo, the incredible alligator feeding done at the Naples Zoo. We discuss a lot of the other ectotherms that live at the zoo, including a lot of what goes into taking care of venomous animals, and also spend some time discussing how good teamwork makes challenging jobs easier!  EPI...

Dateline: June 30, 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 discuss births and deaths including red panda cubs, talk about the Extreme Zoo Makeover program at Franklin Park Zoo, discuss a zero-waste event at the Cincinnati Zoo, share some cool sea turtle news from New England Aquarium,...

Today, the Safari heads to the Naples Zoo in Naples, Florida, to sit down with primate keepers Rachel Kluge and Andrew Zamora to go for a cruise all around the primate island system at the zoo! We talk about the unique system that makes this incredible exhibit work, discuss how training works when it's done from a boat, and so much more. This is one of the more unique exhibits I've ever...

Dateline: June 23, 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 discuss births and deaths, find Doc Antle guilty, discuss the new exhibit at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, share a few giraffe tales,  and so much more! In Conservation News, we talk about El Nino, share about Scottish wildca...

Today, the Safari heads to Jacksonville to sit down with zoo veterinarian Dr. Meredith Persky, on the night before a HUGE procedure in which her team attempted to do a tuskectomy. We talk about what it takes to be a zoo vet, what a great team means to a vet, get some amazing animal stories, talk about the Manatee Critical Care Center at the zoo, and so much more!  EPISODE LINKS:  @jacksonvillezoo...

Dateline: June 16, 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 discuss the first red panda cub announcement of the year, multiple stories about bonus animals, say goodbye to some beloved animals including a concerning series of deaths at the Philadelphia Zoo,  and so much more! In Conserv...