If you had an opportunity to design your own zoo, the first thing you might do is make a list of what you think ought to be in the zoo (what animal displays, concessions, and special attractions).

    I'm sure there seems to be no limit to the things you would like for your zoo. (We all seem to have unlimited wants.) Next, you will need to think about and list what resources will be needed to provide those things or wants. Resources may be divided into four categories: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
    land - resources consisting of sunshine, land, and products of the land
    labor - resources consisting of human power
    capital - resources which include buildings, tools, equipment, and machines
    entrepreneurship - ability to combine land, labor, and capital to make a product or form a business

    When you think about an animal exhibit, you will need at least :  the animal itself, and then land, trees, bushes, etc. or whatever environment that animal needs, water, fencing, sign, food for the animal and a place to keep and prepare the food, zookeeper, veterinarian, tools (hoses, buckets, rakes, etc.), maintenance workers. You may think of some other things, too.
    When you think about a food concession, you will need at least: land, building, utilities (gas, electricity, water), workers, food, oven, refrigerator, dishes, forks, knives, pots and pans, cash register, dishwasher, garbage disposal, paper products, and probably some other things, depending on what you want to sell.

    As you list all of the things you would like for your zoo, you will find it takes a lot of resources to build and run a zoo. Unfortunately, you cannot always have everything you want because resources are limited. There are just not enough resources, including land and money, to produce all the goods and services you would like your zoo to have. This problem you face of having unlimited wants but limited resources is called scarcity. People everyday, everywhere face this same problem - how to satisfy our unlimited wants when we have limited resources. We have to make choices. Zoos must make choices all the time.

    When you have to make decisions about what to include in your zoo, one way to do this is to make a chart. First, on one side list the choices or alternatives and then at the top state what things are important to consider when making this decision or criteria. Examples of criteria you might want to consider are: low cost, educational, fun for the whole family, serves many people at once. You may think of others that are important. Next,  evaluate your alternatives, using the criteria you have set up. Then after evaluating all the alternatives, decisions can be made about what to include.
    Because of scarcity, a limited amount of space and money, zoos can exhibit only so many animals. They must make choices about what animals to include. At the Brandywine Zoo the following criteria are considered when thinking about acquiring an animal:

• space and habitat requirements of the species
• diversity in the collection (genetic, zoogeographic theme, etc.)
• management (dependent on the level of expertise of the staff and the degree of difficulty to manage the species)
• past experience, availability of a species
• public interest
• exhibit value of the species
• sale value
• rarity of a species

    There is a web quest about Zoo Design you might be interested in visiting. You and three of your friends could role play either a zoologist, zoo evaluator, habitat expert or an animal rights activist and plan a zoo.

The General Rules for your zoo on this web quest  are:

The objective of any zoo is to conserve the wildlife and no zoo shall do anything contradictory to the objective.

Every zoo must have a wall that surrounds the entire zoo and is at least two meters tall.

The zoo operator should create and maintain a healthy liiving area in the zoo by planting trees, flowers, and grass.

All of the designed habitats should ensure  the safety of the animals, visitors, and workers.

It is the responsibility of the zoo to create an environment for the animals that is as close as possible to their natural habitat.

Every zoo should have all of the neccessary veterinary services including a hospital, equipment, and supplies.

The zoo must also provide the visitor with bathrooms, drinking fountains, and information centers.
 
 
 

In this web quest the following table is given to show you different types of zoos and to help you choose what size zoo you would like to create.

  Category of the  Zoo    Large          Medium                 Small                Mini

  Area of the zoo              More            125-185 acres     50-125 acres    Less
  in acres                            than 185                                                                 than 50
                                             acres                                                                      acres

Number of                         More            500-750                  200-499          200
 Animals Exhibited          than 750

Animals variety                More             50-75                       20-49               20
 exhibited                           than 75

 Number                            More             10-15                       5-9                    Less
 of endangered               than 15                                                                    than 5
 species
 exhibited

  Annual                            More            500,000-              200,000-                Less
attendance of                  than             750,000               500,000                 than
visitors per year            750,000                                                                      200,000
 

  This information came from Recognition of  Zoo Rules.
 

    Some questions that this web quest has you consider are:

• What are you going to name your zoo?
• What animals are you going to have at your zoo?
•  Which endangered species will you exhibit?
•  Where are you going to get your animals from?
•  How are you going to build your zoo?
• Where is your zoo going to be located?
• What kind of climate does each animal need?
• What is each habitat going to look like?