Rossifari Podcast - Zoos, Aquariums, and Animal Conservation

Today, the Safari heads to Winston, Oregon (which is a state that I say two different ways in the interview) to talk to Rob Peters, one of the carnivore keepers at this AZA accredited drive-through safari.  Wildlife Safari has the most successful cheetah breeding program in the country, and the second most successful in the world! We talk about that program and why it is so successful, what life i...

Today the Safari heads to Ardmore, PA, my hometown, to speak to...well...me.  After fifty episodes, I've been told time and again from fans that they want to learn more about the guy who makes the podcast.  So I enlisted Taylor Ballard (@zoogirltay on Instagram), the anthrozoologist, to find out more about the crazy animal known as Jon Rossi.  We talk about the beginning of Rossifari, the roa...

The Safari is about to travel on again, but first I'm bringing you one more interview from the Forth Worth Zoo! In this episode I talk to Tripp and Jessi Gorman, who are an elephant keeper and an outreach keeper, respectively.  They are also a married couple with a young child, which led to some questions about life as a "zoo family."  You'll get to hear about the amazing Eleph...

Today, the Safari hangs out for another episode at the stunning Fort Worth Zoo!  I bring you my interview with Vicky Poole, who is both the assistant curator of ectotherms and an amazing conservationist (and conversationalist).  You'll learn all about the largest and most diverse reptile and amphibian collection in the United States, the incredible Museum of Living Art, and some really fantas...

Happy New Year!  Today, the Safari heads down to Fort Worth, Texas, to the zoo recently voted #1 in the nation by readers of USA Today, The Fort Worth Zoo!  We are actually going to spend three full episodes at the zoo, talking to a variety of interesting people from different departments! Today is Neil Jones, a hoofstock keeper in the new African Savanna area of the zoo!  You'll hear his ins...

Today, the Safari is sitting tight in Nashville, for another interview from one of the amazing staff there!  Today I'm brining you an interview with Nate Morris, the contact lead keeper at the zoo!  Get ready to learn all about an adorable civet, some cool porcupines (and their awesome names), and how training animals can help when leading humans! All opinions represent Nate's own, and d...

Today the Safari heads back to The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere to introduce you to a person with a lot of titles.  She's the Education Programs Coordinator, an Education Specialist, an Anthrozoologist, and plans on being the director of the AZA some day: Taylor Ballard.  Taylor and I have a wide-ranging discussion about all kinds of stuff, talking about how people think and learn about animals...

Today, the Safari heads back to The Cincinnati Zoo to talk to Paul Reinhart while hanging out IN the red panda enclosure.  Lin, Kendji, Audra, Lenore, and baby Lucas all spend the episode listening in, climbing up, and generally having a wonderful time hanging out with us as Paul talks about his long career as a keeper at The Cincinnati Zoo, his love for camels, rhinos, and red pandas, and even a...

Today, the Safari heads back to the Cincinnati Zoo in order to catch up with our friend Colleen Adams.  You may remember Colleen from episode 12, and if you don't, you should go listen to that episode before starting this one!  Colleen is an interpretive keeper at Cincy, and starts the episode by bringing us up to speed with some of her most popular animals from the last episode, including Sa...

Today, the Safari heads to Zoo Knoxville to talk to a woman who is nothing short of a legend in the red panda community: Sarah Glass.  Sarah is the curator of red pandas, ambassador animals, and more at Zoo Knoxville, but she is also the AZA SSP(Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan) coordinator for red pandas.  Today's episode focuses on that role, as we look at the red pan...

Today, the Safari heads back down to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere to speak to recent viral video star Lauren Lott! She's the keeper you saw bouncing around in her kangaroo costume with a little joey following her and then summersaulting into a fake pouch.  It's a really adorable video, but that's not why Lauren is here. We talk about the video a little, but we also get into the aw...

Today, the Safari heads to Akron, Ohio, to talk to Kristen Scaglione, a carnivore keeper with a real love of her grizzly bears. We talk all about them, some incredibly endangered red wolves, and the band of coyotes she takes care of at the zoo.  We also touch on the new area of the zoo that is opening soon, and also on some of the amazing African animals she gets to take care of.  Yup, I finally t...

Today, the Safari heads back to the Cincinnati Zoo for another exciting adventure!  This time, I'm chatting with Linda Castaneda, the head of the ambassador cheetah program at the zoo!  She'll run us down a list of some of the cheetahs under her care, including the famous duo Kris and Remus! You'll also learn about some really cool opportunities to hang out with cheetahs at the zoo....

Happy Walrus Awareness Week, y'all!  Today, the Safari heads to The Indianapolis Zoo to speak to marine mammal keeper Erika Allen. We'll touch on some dolphins, some sea lions, and of course with Erika's history...but this episode is all about the two walrus that live in Indy!  You'll hear all about (and from) Aku and Ginger, their history, their training, and the hopes for the...

Today, the Safari is headed to Denver, Colorado, to speak to an incredible zookeeper and conservationist, Dave Johnson.  Dave is the Executive Director of the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund, a conservation organization that is helping to save a large variety of species all over the globe!  Along with that, Dave also takes care of some amazing pachyderms in Denver!  You'll get to hear the ama...

Today, the Safari takes you to one of the most famous zoos in the US, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium! I interview Christy Nuss, a keeper in the Asia Quest section of the zoo, so you know this episode is heavily focused on the seven red pandas that currently live at Columbus.  Yes, that's right...SEVEN. RED. PANDAS. And of course, one of those pandas became a star this summer as she went missin...

Today, the Safari is splitting it's time between Eugene, Oregon (home of the US office of the Red Panda Network) and Nepal (where the work of the RPN gets done).  I'm bringing you my interview with Terrance Fleming of the Red Panda Network.  RPN is easily one of the most impressive conservation organizations out there.  In this episode, we talk all about what it takes to do in situ conse...

Today, the Safari is headed to Roanoke, VA, to Mill Mountain Zoo!  This is a small but mighty zoo built on the top of a mountain! I interview Robin Lentz, the co-director of the zoo, about ZAA accreditation, the perks and challenges of being a small zoo, some amazing conservation efforts being done at the zoo, and much more.   Check out Mill Mountain Zoo:  @millmountainzoo on Insta and Facebook  w...

The Safari is headed to Salt Lake City, Utah, to visit one of the two bird-only zoos in the country, the Tracy Aviary! You'll meet Helen DiShaw, who runs the wildly popular Facebook page Andy N Condor, featuring one of the incredible ambassador birds in her collection!  You'll also hear about the smallest bird with the biggest personality AND get a deep dive on the difference between an...

Today, the Safari takes you back to Zoo Atlanta, for another conversation with Danica Wolfe, a carnivore keeper on the Panda Team!  You may remember Danica from Episode 4, "Remembering Idgie," where she shared all about the life and legacy of one special red panda.  Well, today, she is here to tell you about the four amazing giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta! Get ready to find out which bear i...

Today, the Safari heads to the Indianapolis Zoo to talk to Heather Hammond-Wood, a primate keeper there who gets to take care of some pretty cool animals that aren't found at many other AZA facilities, including long-tailed macaques.  She also talks a lot about her passion for her gibbons at the zoo and shares some tales about her adorable ring-tailed lemur family!  Check out the Indianapolis...

Today, the Safari is chillin' out in my home area, as we visit the PennVet Working Dog Center in Philadelphia! I'm bringing you two interviews this week. The first one is with Tessa Seals, who talks about the career path training the dogs undergo at the center. The second one features a chat with Dr. Jennifer Essler, who talks about a lot of the research projects being done at the center...

It's time for the final episode of The Rossifari Spooky Spectacular, a look at some of the most iconic Halloween animals that can be found in zoos.  In this episode, I sit down with Marisa Hadley, a conservation educator at Elmwood Park Zoo who talks to me all about those incredibly large spiders known as tarantulas.  Will my arachnophobia win out, or will I actually handle and interact with...

The Safari continues to sit down at Elmwood Park Zoo to discuss some of the most iconic animals associated with Halloween! In this case, we talk to Laura Soder, the manager of ambassador animal engagement at Elmwood Park Zoo, with a specific focus on her time hand-raising Banshee the barn owl.  Come for the owl physiology and animal training information, stay for the jokes and the fun spooky intro...

Today, the Safari heads back to my favorite home zoo, Elmwood Park Zoo, to start a three episode Halloween arc!  We are going to be looking at some of the animals closely associated with Spooky Season, including bats and snakes (this episode), owls (next episode) and tarantulas (the third episode). Today's conversation is with Kelsey Castrogiovanni, a keeper who takes care of bats, snakes, an...