Animals in zoos require a lot of attention, upkeep and most importantly food in order to keep them as happy as they can be in a confined space. Though we often don’t think about it, zoos need an enormous amount, and variety, of food for a comparatively small population of animals. Often times exotic species require special types of food that have to be flown in from thousands of miles away or you could have larger animals that simply need to consume huge quantities of what they eat. One hippopotamus alone consumes about 100 pounds of vegetation every night.
Fresh Veg In The Zoo’s Own Yard
Seeing as animal feed is one of the largest expenses a zoo has, coupled with the fact that transportation of said feed has an enormous carbon footprint, the Paignton Zoo in South Devon, working with Valcent Products (Eu) Limited and its VertiCrop farming system, has begun a vertical farming project inside the zoo aimed at producing some of the food needed to feed the animals. The zoo has just finished planting it’s first crop of lettuce which is capable of producing over 11,000 heads in four weeks. Eventually the farm will have vertical plots of red chard, mizuna, mixed leaves, various herbs, edible flowers, wheat grass and barley.
Given the limited space of the zoo, vertical farming makes the most sense both from spatial considerations as well as production maximization. The vertical farm area is an enclosed greenhouse and uses computer controlled irrigation to keep the plants watered. Some of the features and advantages of VertiCrop farming are:
• Crop yields that are as much as 20 times greater than those from traditional farming.
• A 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in the water and nutrients required for growth.
• The ability to produce crops year-round in a controlled environment that can be customized for climatic regions.
• Enables farming regardless of soil conditions in almost any location.
some info courtesy of GreenBiz
The Good: A much more environmentally-friendly and cost effective way of providing fresh food for the animals at the zoo.
The Bad: Unlikely that the system will be able to produce the majority of the food needed given the range of species and quantities needed.
The Bottom-Line: A better way of providing less carbon intensive fresh food to zoo animals while being able to do so in a relatively small area.
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