On the northern side of Sydney Harbour, alongside the rolling green National Park of Bradley’s Head Point, sits one of the most picturesque zoos in the entire world. For over a hundred years, Taronga Zoo has been home to everything from lions and tigers, to Tasmanian devils and koalas.
It is clear after just one visit that Taronga is one of the best zoos in the world and a leader in wildlife conservation, but what is often under-appreciated is that they are also leaders in the field of sustainability. That is why OneFishTwoFish is proud to introduce them as one of its trusted partners.
“We have Long-nosed fur seals, Australian and Californian sea lions, pelicans, and penguins, all of which consume fish as their primary food source,” said a spokesperson for the zoo.
“We provide our animals with a diet which mimics the nutritional content of the natural diet they would consume in the wild. To achieve this we require approximately one hundred kilograms of seafood daily.”
This equates to around 35 tonnes annually or roughly the weight of ten Indian Elephants.
For an organisation which is committed to Environmental Leadership as one of its six strategic pillars, Taronga is working hard to reduce the impact of its food purchases.
Already, Taronga ensures that all seafood across their cafes and restaurants is sustainably caught and ethically sourced through a rigorous process, with sustainable certification through the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), whilst the Animal Nutrition and Wildlife Operations team continually work to source more sustainable seafood for animal consumption.
While these are obviously amazing initiatives, there remains an opportunity:
“Taronga sources sustainably caught seafood and that is a critical step in responsible seafood procurement, but it's important that we also look at initiatives which focus on replenishing fishery populations.
OneFishTwoFish is committed to supporting a seafood-positive movement. We are very excited to be partnering with them and securing a shared future for people and wildlife.”
For the two million people who pass through the gates of Taronga every single year, there is a certain peace of mind knowing that the admission fee is positively contributing to the ecology of our oceans.
And if you are lucky enough to meet Moby, the Australian Sea Lion at one of the Seals for the Wild presentations, you can know that every single fish thrown his way is putting two back into the ocean. Now imagine restoring the oceans with the equivalent of twenty elephants’ worth of seafood.
OneFishTwoFish is immensely proud to partner with Taronga Zoo, for their commitment to seafood sustainability.