68. Zoo Animals

The Economics of Everyday Things

When a zoo needs an elephant, or finds itself with three surplus penguins, it doesn’t buy or sell the animals — it asks around. Zachary Crockett rattles the cages.

  • SOURCES:
    • Hollie Colahan, deputy director of the Birmingham Zoo and chair of the AZA's Animal Population Management Committee.
    • Dwight Lawson, executive director and C.E.O. of the Oklahoma City Zoo.
  • RESOURCES:
    • "Oklahoma City Zoo Announces Near-Total Redesign in 2024 Master Plan," by Sam Royka (The Oklahoman, 2024).
    • "Panda Diplomacy: What China’s Decision to Send Bears to the US Reveals About Its Economy," by Chee Meng Tan (The Conversation, 2024).
    • "Oklahoma City Zoological Trust Financial Statements," (2023).
    • "Modern Zoos Are Not Worth the Moral Cost," by Emma Marris (The New York Times, 2021).
    • "The Tiger King of the 19th Century," by Betsy Golden Kellem (Slate, 2020).
    • Animal Population Management Committee of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

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