Comments on: Oh no! Panda cam coming to an end!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:38:03 +0000

If they are spending $1150 a week to operate the panda cam they must be employing someone full time to operate it. I was the office director of an environmental non-profit in California with 15,000 members and fairly heavy website traffic and our two webcams cost nothing like that. The downside for Atlanta of going to interns or a rotating crew of trained volunteers would be the time and trouble of supervising them, which would be a lot of work for someone who probably has too much to do already. The zoo managers also probably feel that they need to serve their main constituency in Atlanta first (after serving the welfare of the animals, of course) and that people there can easily see the pandas in person. On the other hand, I think that all zoos that have the privilege of housing critically endangered species have an obligation to be advocates on their behalf to as wide an audience as possible. When I think of how much goodwill and sales the Coca-Cola Company (based in Atlanta) has generated over the years from using polar bears as a promotional vehicle, it really seems shameful that they won’t help out. They were probably among the first to be asked.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:35:23 +0000

The folks at Zoo Atlanta are trying very hard to find a corporate sponsor, but with so many companies in trouble these days and laying off workers by the thousands, it’s not easy to find one that can spare $60,000 a year to fund a panda cam. I certainly hope they succeed, and if that fails, I hope the public can contribute the money. Please don’t feel that ZA has let panda lovers down. They simply don’t have the money to keep the cam operating without outside help. If it comes to a choice between spending money on animal care and spending it on the cam, I’m sure we all want them to put the animals first.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:09:18 +0000

Yes, I agree. Kellogg’s cereal has a panda on the box of their Endangered Animals brand and there is also Peanut Butter Panda Puffs from the EnviroKidz brand. Just two examples of companies with mass market products. I am sure the amount needed could not be very great. Atlanta should step up and try to save the Panda Cam.

By: Frances

Frances — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:53:10 +0000

I agree with you 100% on everything you said. Surely there are many companies who would jump at the chance to have people worldwide see their logo and get some advertising while being a cam sponsor.