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1. submerge Had this To Say

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   Well, there are a lot of variables here. The following is drawn from a feasibility study that must remain anonymous.
   Location is important, since it determines climate, and all kinds of other factors relating to costs and income. It costs a lot more to keep hot climate animals like lions and tigers in a cold climate location. Number of animals is important, since it will affect the area and staff required. Modern zoos support recovery efforts for endangered and threatened species. Captive breeding programs require more sophisticated facilities and veterinary care. Obviously location will also control who comes to see our animals and how much it costs to attract them.
   To set up a facility to look after wild animals like, say, tigers, there is the cost to build the facility, and then the cost to run it. These are called capital and operating costs, respectively.
   Suppose we were talking about housing a small family group of tigers in a small open-range park setting. Say we have one adult male and three adult females, with four cubs. Tigers are solitary apart from mating times, but the females will tolerate each other. We just can’t have two adult males within close proximity.
   We will need an animal house. It has to be carefully designed and strongly built to protect staff and the public. There might be three lairs connected to outside pens, in turn connected to the open park. One might be used as a nursery. We need a veterinary clinic and an attached veterinary lab. We need a central work room and feed preparation area. We need a cold room to store food. We need a regular store room for supplies and stores that don’t need to be kept cold. We need an office and a kitchen and staff room and toilets / showers for the keepers. We need a bunk room for overnight staff use.
   As well, we need an administration building with public facilities for ticket sales, administrative staff, public toilets, food and drink sales and merchandise sales. We might want a picnic area and shelters in the public area. The administration building might also house the security control room, from which the park is monitored.
   We will need a truck and two utility vehicles for transport and operations.
   Obviously the park needs high security fences and alarm systems around the perimeter, and also segregating the entry area, the public / administration area, the animal house and the open park. Inside fences AWAY from where people normally are may be electrified to provide non-lethal shocks should anything try to scale them.
   We will use cameras and motion sensing devices extensively throughout the park to monitor the animals, the public and staff. Usually the open park will be broken up into multiple zones that we can control separately, so that we can keep the animals in one area while we deal with breakdowns or repairs in another zone. Typically, we will use “car locks”, like airlocks, where you have an area a car can drive into with gates at each end.
   We might choose to fit our animals with radio locators so we positively know where they are all the time. This also helps when we are trying to deal with incidents or repairs within the park.
   For the sake of this discussion, I am going to exclude land costs, and animal acquisition costs. These are too variable and hard to quantify.
   In US 2005 dollars based on mid-west or southwest construction costs, we are probably talking capital costs of around $2 million for above buildings and fit-out, with another $500,000 for park fencing, security systems, landscaping and facilities. Theres another $200,000 for vehicles and machinery.
   That’s about $250,000 in interest and depreciation annually.
   Repairs and maintenance will cost us around $50,000 annually.
   Staff-wise, we will need six animal house staff, four security staff, five administration / management / sales / maintenance staff, say 15 staff in total. That’s about $1,000,000 annually in salaries and on-costs.
   Veterinary costs will be around $50,000 annually.
   Our tigers will eat the equivalent of around 2.5 cows a week. So feed and animal supplies will cost us around $150,000 annually.
   General and administrative expenses will likely be around $50,000. Sales, advertising and marketing costs depend on lots of factors, but lets say $50,000 annually.
   So, excluding acquiring the land and the animals, its going to cost us around $US1.6 million each year to run our animal park. Based on 100 cars per day, 2.5 visitors per car, 200 open days per year, we might be lucky to see $US1.2 million in ticket, food and merchandise sales each year.
   So to find a place to put our park, acquire the animals and make ends meet, we are going to need some serious sponsorships or donors. No wonder there aren’t more zoos around, huh.