Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

It was one of the more awkward staff meetings that I had ever had... and that was saying something.

One of our new keepers (not just "new" to our zoo, but brand new to the field as well) interrupted with a proposal.  He wanted our zoo's scantly-funded conservation committee to pay to send him to Australia to volunteer at a cassowary reserve.   For the record, we did not, never had, and never planned to have cassowary at the zoo.  We also never sent keepers abroad - or even more than an hour away - to do field work.  We also had almost nothing left in our budget - the meeting had actually been called to come up with new fundraising ideas.

To put it mildly, he seemed somewhat discouraged by the end of the meeting.  It was all that some of our staff could do to keep for laughing in incredulity.  None of the measured reasons we gave him seemed to satisfy him that this wasn't feasible.  He also didn't seem impressed with the reason that I offered.  Buying him a plane ticket (round trip, presumably) and covering his meals and lodging for two or three weeks in Australia would take a lot of money.  Even if we had that sort of money, would it be a better investment to send the money to Australia directly rather than send a not-terribly-experienced keeper to... do what exactly?

In some cases, sending staff to volunteer abroad is a very worthwhile investment.  In some cases, such as the recent radiated tortoise confiscation in Madagascar, there is a need for lots of experienced caretakers to come in and help with the situation.  The same with oil spills or stranding events or anything else that requires skill and training.

In other cases, it can be very beneficial to send staff with nonessential skills abroad.  Such experiences can be a great way to hone professional skills, reward hard-working staff members, and help keepers grow.

There never is an amazing amount of conservation funding available.  Conservation partners need to prioritize their expenditures carefully for maximum benefit.  It should be used to help support wildlife conservation, and that can include fostering the next generation of conservation biologists.

It does not, it turns out, stretch far enough to cover vacations in Oz.