Rossifari Podcast - Zoos, Aquariums, and Animal Conservation

Today, the Safari turns the tables as Dani Larson interviews Jon about five full years of Rossifari-ing. Then Miles asks three burning questions as a follow up. Get to know the guy behind the mic that you listen to twice a week, and more importantly, get to hear more of Dani!  EPISODE LINKS:  rossifari.com  Patreon.com/rossifari to support the pod  @rossifari on socials  @rossifaripod on TikTok 

Dateline: July 25, 2025. 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 off celebrating the fifth anniversary of the podcast! Then it's time for a quick little catch up on me.  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring red pandas at Zoo Lodz and Idaho Falls Zoo, and other animals from...

Today, the Safari heads to Washington D.C. to bring you an episode from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute! We welcome Carly Hornberger back onto the pod to talk all things primate (and some things rat and turtle) at the National Zoo! How does the famous O-line work? Are gibbons the best primates? Are baby gorillas as cute and playful as they seem? We talk all t...

Dateline: July 18, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on me.  Then it's time for our headline story featuring a reminder that FOIA exists. We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from The Detroit Zoo, The Oregon Zoo, Ripley Wildlife...

Today, the Safari heads back to Tanganyika Wildlife Park to chat with Matt and Lynnlee, two of the visionaries in charge of making the park run. We discuss a ton of topics that are hot in the industry right now, including culture, the value of animal encounters, the importance of transparency, and more.  EPISODE LINKS:  twpark.com  @tanganyikawildlifepark on socials  ROSSIFARI LINKS:  Rossifari.co...

Dateline: July 11, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on me.  Then it's time for our headline story featuring the story of a sea turtle who has been released into the ocean after 41 years in human care.  We then move on to our births for the week, featur...

Today, the Safari stays at the Kansas City Zoo to get a tour of the new aquarium  with President and Director Sean Putney. We go exhibit by exhibit both in the public area and behind the scenes to give you an immersive look at the aquarium in an audio tour!  EPISODE LINKS:  @kansascityzoo on socials  kansascityzoo.org  ROSSIFARI LINKS:  rossifari.com  patreon.com/rossifari  @rossifari on socials ...

Dateline: July 4, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on me.  Then it's time for our headline story featuring an update on the San Francisco Zoo leadership situation. We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from the Akron Zoo, San Di...

Today, the Safari heads to the Kansas City Zoo to hang out with President and Director Sean Putney. We talk about what goes into running such a huge zoo with so many different animals and what's coming next for the zoo. Then we head to the penguin ice shelf to hang out with some amazing birds, and then get some special human guests when we stop by the aquarium! EPISODE LINKS:  @kansascityzoo...

Dateline: June 27, 2025.  This episode starts off like any other, but then as I dive into my headline story it goes off the rails. I talk about the loss the animal world experienced this week as we said goodbye to Mikayla Raines of Save A Fox Rescue. This leads to a discussion of bullying, mental health, the supposed anonymity of the internet, and how we can support our animal caregivers.  ROSSIFA...

Today, the Safari heads to Sedgwick County Zoo to discuss some incredible animals including orangutans and chimpanzees! Best of all, much of the interview is conducted with two mama chimps and two baby chimps, including a 2.5 week old baby. I've never seen anything like it in person, and I can't wait to share all of this great content with you!  EPISODE LINKS:  @sedgwickcountyzoo on soci...

Dateline: June 20, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on me.  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Aquarium of Niagara, Southwick's Zoo, Zoo Miami, Sequoia Park Zoo, Franklin Park Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, and mor...

Today, the Safari heads back to Goddard, KS, to Tanganyika Wildlife Park, to talk to Dr. Samantha Russak on her birthday!  This episode gets into all kinds of cool research and welfare topics, and also features a surprise guest who wanted to drop in to say hi and to call me an a-hole. Ok, most of you probably now know who it is, but still, exciting stuff!  EPISODE LINKS:  twpark.com  @tanganyikawi...

Dateline: June 13, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on meeeeeeee! Our headline story this week heads back to the Natural Bridge Zoo, which should probably be renamed the Natural Disaster Zoo at this point.  We then move on to our births for the week, featur...

Today, the Safari heads back to Southwick's Zoo for two amazing interviews. First, sit in as Dani and her team welcome us into a post-show discussion after one of their new free flight shows. Then join us as we introduce you to John Simcox of the Talon Ridge Raptor Institute and share some really exciting news!  EPISODE LINKS:  @talonridegeraptors @southwickszooofficial - All NEW instagram fo...

Dateline: June 6, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on meeeeeeee! Our headline story this week features multiple stories about Pride, Pride events at zoos, a zoo that is admitting they need to do better, and how you can help zoos become more inclusive and we...

Today, the Safari heads to Omaha, Nebraska, to sit down with Mitch Carl of the Henry Doorly Zoo, regularly rated one of the best zoos in the country. We talk about taking care of all of the water at the zoo, the aquarium including the team and animals found within, and try really hard to get Mitch to think of one or two mammals he likes.  EPISODE LINKS:  @omahazoo on socials  omahazoo.com  ROSSIFA...

Dateline: May 30, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on meeeeeeee! Our headline story this week features multiple stories about bad zoos getting in trouble, which is my favorite thing they do. We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from...

Today, the Safari heads to Manhattan, KS, to hang out with Caitlin Kenny of the Sunset Zoo. We talk tiger training, red panda baby time, going from lemurs to...lemurs? and so much more!  EPISODE LINKS:  sunsetzoo.com  @sunsetzoo  ROSSIFARI LINKS:  Rossifari.com  @rossifari on socials  @rossifaripod on TikTok  patreon.com/rossifari 

Dateline: May 23, 2025. 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 off with a quick catch up on meeeeeeee! Our headline story this week features three stories tied together to illustrate how easy it is for the anti-zoo movement to cause trouble online without any real reason, logic, or facts to go...

Today, the Safari heads to Kansas for our first episode from Tanganyika Wildlife Park. This experiential zoological facility is unlike anywhere else I've visited, and we dig into why that is, and into some of the amazing animals found at the park with today's guest, Jess Price. From honey badgers to primates to rhinos and giraffes, we talk a ton of animals, but we also talk about how the...

Dateline: May 16, 2025. 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 off with a funny story that turns into a heartfelt message. We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Zoo Knoxville, the Dallas Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, and Nashville Zoo.  We say goodbye to animals from the Ore...

Today, the Safari heads to Boston to visit Franklin Park Zoo, part of Zoo New England! But we aren't there to talk with people that work at the zoo...instead, we are talking to Matthew Kamm and Kirsten Ward of the Zoo New England Field Conservation Team! We talk turtles, we talk newts, we talk all kinds of good stuff. I always love shining a light on the conservation work done at zoos, and th...

Dateline: May 9, 2025. 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 off with our usual introduction, talking a bit about me.  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Zoo Duisburg, the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, Abilene Zoo, the Bronx Zoo, Aquarium of Niagara, and Clevel...

Happy Keep the Five Alive Day! To celebrate all things rhino, I'm bringing you an interview with Nina Fascione of the International Rhino Foundation! We talk all things rhino and rhino conservation, from going deep into exactly how scary the world of poachers can be to discussing the "arms race" of conservation. We also talk about the amazing rangers helping to save the five species...