Rossifari Podcast - Zoos, Aquariums, and Animal Conservation

Dateline: May 2, 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 get to our headline story for the week: my interview with Scott Newland, CEO of Sedgwick County Zoo, about the amazing work being done to save siheks, through collabor...

Today, the Safari stays in Boston to bring you another fun episode from our friends at New England Aquarium. This week, we are talking about the pinnipeds that call the facility home! Five California sea lions and five harbor seals make up this incredible collection, and you'll not only learn all about them and the amazing training done with them, but even get to join me inside the seal habit...

Dateline: April 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 discussion about my time spent at Tanganyika Wildlife Park this week, and go into a lot of detail about what makes this such an incredible, and incredibly unique, facility.  We then get to our headline story for the week...

Today, the Safari heads to Boston to visit our friends at the New England Aquarium to talk all things penguins in celebration of World Penguin Day! Learn about the incredible habitat at the Aquarium that makes life fascinating for the penguins and the trainers there, how the two species that currently call the facility home are similar and different, and so much more! You'll also get to go on...

Dateline April 18, 2025 Rossifari Zoo News is back with a collection of stories that go deeper than usual, but less so than last week! This week we share some personal stories, and then look at three headlines from the field.  First, we discuss what an Executive Order signed this week means for animal conservation. Spoiler alert: It's not good.  Then we dive into the labor unrest at the San D...

Today, the Safari heads back to Buttonwood Park Zoo, to talk to newly appointed director Shara Rapoza along with returning friends Sarah Henry and Sara Van Wormer! We talk about the new Ambassador Animal building the zoo is nearing completion on, and what that will look like when it has its glorious opening to the public later this year! We also talk about some of the amazing ambassadors that call...

Dateline: April 11, 2025. You knew it was coming, and it's here. An entire episode digging into every aspect of this week's announcement of the "de-extinction" of dire wolves by Colossal Biosciences. We talk about this from a variety of angles, and dig into some of the other claims the company has made. We also look at what this might mean to the current administration, and mos...

Today, the Safari takes a journey (on Zoom) to Peru to discuss RAREC, the RAINFOREST AWARENESS RESCUE EDUCATION CENTRE, located in Peru! We have a wild and sprawling conversation with John Garnica, the founder of the organization, talking about how his career took him from Kanye to the rainforest, how our friends at The Nashville Zoo made his dream a reality, how a motorcycle accident almost derai...

Dateline: April 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 update on me and a story about how I saved a beaver this week. Totally good normal stuff. We then get to two headline stories: one looking at how recent Executive Orders can affect the Smithsonian's National Z...

Today, the Safari heads back to Providence, RI, to sit down with some incredible team members at Roger Williams Park Zoo. Diana and Emily are an amazing duo that work with ambassador animals and in the commissary (which we never even get to), and have a LOT of fun doing it. This duo has come up in their careers together, and the relationship they share is as amazing as the work they are currently...

Dateline: March 28, 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 update on me and a chat about Penguins International's March of the Penguin Madness competition!  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from the Nashville Zoo, the Toledo Zoo, ZooAtlan...

Today, the Safari heads back to Wildlife World Zoo to catch up with our friend Danielle Hinderliter, bird keeper, educator, and one of the faces of the zoo! We talk about what the last two years have been like at the zoo, discuss the human-animal connection, and so much more! Oh, and we talk birds. So. Many. Birds.  EPISODE LINKS:  @wildlifeworldzoo on socials  wildlifeworld.com  ROSSIFARI LINKS: ...

Dateline: March 21, 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 update on me and a chat about Penguins International's March of the Penguin Madness competition!  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Mogo Wildlife Park, Cleveland Metroparks Zo...

Today, the Safari heads back to the Lehigh Valley Zoo to talk to Dani DiMarco about all the things. We catch up on what's new since our last interview, we go wander the zoo together and talk about some new and cool animals, and so much more. This is just one of those conversations where two friends just chat animals and zoos and have the best time!  EPISODE LINKS:  @lvzoo on socials  lvzoo.or...

Dateline: March 14, 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 update on me and a chat about Penguins International's March of the Penguin Madness competition!  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Roger Williams Park Zoo, Zoo Montana, Senec...

Today, the Safari heads to Wildlife World Zoo outside of Phoenix, to talk to three trainers who had to put up with my sorry butt for an entire week as I did a voluntary mini internship (Minternship) with the sea lion training team at the zoo! We talk about why an incredible team matters so much, and how an incredible culture can create resiliency for animals and staff alike. We dig into so much mo...

Dateline: March 7, 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 where I am now, and wondering why is it so cold? Our headline story is a look at Chappy, the seal pup rescued by Mystic Aquarium that came to national prominence before sadly passing away. What can we learn from all the th...

Today, the Safari continues our celebration of 10 years and 50 programs under the AZA's SAFE banner! We look at what individual programs are doing, talking to members of SAFE Gorilla and SAFE African Penguin about the work they are doing in the field, what goes into getting involved in a SAFE program, how conservation partners team up with SAFE programs, and more. We also spend some time talk...

Dateline: 2.28.25  Today's episode of Rossifari Zoo News starts with Jon riffing about life and how tired he is. Lots of cool stuff going on this week,  Then we do a deep dive into what is going on at the SeaQuest chain of aquariums. It's a long story with a pretty solid ick factor.  Then it's Animal Holidays, because Jon is very, very tired. ROSSIFARI LINKS:  patreon.com/rossifari ...

Today, the Safari sits down with Dan Ashe and Katey Leban of the AZA to start a two-part series looking at the ten years and fifty programs of AZA SAFE! We talk about what SAFE programs are, how they are run, how they manage to maintain independence while being part of the AZA, and so much more! Tune in next week to hear from members of individual SAFE programs as they share the incredible work th...

Dateline: February 21, 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 story about my time on SNL.  We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals from Hogle Zoo, Zoo Tampa, the Perth Zoo, Smithsonian's National Zoo, and Zoo Miami.  We say goodbye to beloved animals...

Today, the Safari heads down to Fort Worth, TX, to talk to Tripp Gorman, the president of the Elephant Managers Association. This professional organization exists to help any human who takes care of elephants to increase their knowledge and skills! A lost-cost professional organization that focuses on welfare regardless of anything else going on at your facility is pretty rare, and I find it reall...

Dateline: February 14, 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 update about the SAFE Red Panda plan. Our headline story this week is...well, I'm not going to spoil it. But it's a STORY, y'all! We then move on to our births for the week, featuring animals fro...

Today, the Safari heads to Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester to sit down with elephant footcare specialist Mike McClure. I spent the day with Mike watching him train the elephant teams from Seneca Park Zoo and Rosamond Gifford Zoo on the intricacies of elephant foot health, and it was truly amazing. We talk about the conservation work Mike participates in, the field work he does in Africa and Nepal, ho...

Dateline: February 7, 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 update from my life and welcome some new Patrons.  Our headline stories this week are two deep dives into very interesting topics: first, Dan Ashe, President and CEO of the AZA talks about a recent email he sent...