- Funding for Working Capital is provided by the Friends of KTW, the Raven C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation.

And Go Topeka.

Welcome back to Working Capital.

Today we're one of my favorite spots, as you guys all know.

The Topeka Zoo, it's a treasure of the community, and they have a new director and CEO Christina Castellano, and she's here with us today.

So welcome to Working Capital.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- So, right off the bat, like I say, this is one of my favorite spots from when I was little.

It's the community's favorite spots from all the events.

What drew you here when they started looking for new directors?

What, what kind of a, what made you fall in love with the place?

- Well, it's actually an interesting story.

So, I'm originally from New York.

I grew up in the Bronx, actually born in the Bronx.

Grew up around the Bronx.

And my husband is from Kentucky.

And when the position opened, he said to me, oh, you, you should, you should check that out.

And I said, no, I don't think so.

I said, I've never been to Kansas.

I don't think so.

And he said, you know what?

Check it out.

And I, I remember flying in here and spending the day at the zoo and I called him from the hotel that night and I said, my goodness, you were so right.

This place is just amazing.

It's beautiful.

And in many ways it actually reminded me of home.

So the first day was just a lovely day meeting staff and people in the community.

And I was just, I was hooked from the very beginning.

- I mean, one of those communities where a lot of people will wave at you as you go by depending on where you're at.

So it's, it's, they're, it's pretty welcoming.

It's a nice kind of, - Oh my goodness.

- It shows the so Welcom side of the Midwest.

- Oh, it's been wonderful.

One of the things I've lived the most is that the community has just embraced me.

My family, when we got here, they wanted to know where the kids were gonna go to school, providing advice, even on doctors and just where to eat.

It was just the most wonderful feeling to be just so welcomed here.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

We love it.

- So you walk in the zoo.

What was your favorite exhibit right off the bat?

- It's really interesting because it's not always the favorite exhibit that I look for.

It's more of the feeling, what, what is the zoo trying to do?

How do they connect with the community?

How do they talk about conservation?

How do they, how do they get people excited about the mission of the organization?

Because that's what it's really all about.

You can do that with so many different animals because there's so many cool animals and unique animals.

It's really about the people who tell those stories.

And that's what I look for is how, how do I connect with staff and other guests that are on our campus.

So that's what I look for as soon as I came here.

And like I said, it was just meeting people was wonderful - That, you know, this is kind of in a unique spot.

It's, I don't know if you wanna call it kind of a postage stamp size place.

You know, where in a park it's big, it's got lots of good exhibits, but you know, you're, you're right off the interstate.

You're probably one of the closest zoos to I 71 of the most major thorough bears.

Plus over the years, you know, we've had this ebb and flow of, of world renowned ness, - You know?

Yeah.

So I love that.

- How do you like that and how are you, how do you want to capture that spark?

Yeah.

And, and maybe grow that?

- Yeah.

Well it's really interesting because I first started at the Bronx Zoo.

Really big zoo, huge tourism place.

Great, great big place for tourists.

- I'm say speaking of that, and tourism the snake that got out the Bronx Zoo, was that, was that the - Bronx Zoo?

Oh, the Cobra.

- Do you remember that?

A few years - Ago?

I ago.

I do, I do.

- And someone, I mean that - It was after my time, but I do do remember the Cobra.

I - Think it was someone else outside of that.

Yeah, - I think they had their own, like social media dates.

- They did.

I think someone started, but it brought people to the zoo.

- Yeah, it did.

- You know, so someone outside who loved that zoo, but just thought it was kind of funny.

But it, so, - Oh no, that was hilarious.

You - Know, what grabs the community?

- Oh.

So anyways, I just thought, no, I love that they did that.

But so big zoo LA of tourists.

And then I was in Australia for a while at Zoos Victoria.

And then before I came out here, I was in Salt Lake City.

Again, big tourism destination.

So what I loved was the community feel here.

It was, it was just something I hadn't felt before.

And I immediately knew it was unique to the zoo and this community.

And it, it's, it's funny because my background is conservation and I've always talked so much about saving wildlife, and that is the core of our business and education.

But something happened here that really connected me with how important it was for the community.

So that was just a really special feeling that I had, that I hadn't had in others use.

I had so much tourism and not the local connection.

When I first got here, people pick up the phone, they just called me out of the blue people that I didn't know, and they would say, we love the zoo.

We're so happy you're here.

I grew up going to the zoo, now I take my grandkids.

It was just something that I hadn't experienced before.

And what I hope to continue to build on, - Yeah, I need tourism dollars.

That, that's huge here.

Yeah.

But it really is community focused zoo where a lot of, a lot of people come even a couple times a week.

I mean, tho those, - Oh my goodness, those they do are - So huge here.

Whereas, like you say, probably with some of those bigger, the locals don't want go every day because of the mass going - Through.

'cause it's crowded, it's, - It's a churn.

It's still doing great work.

- Yeah.

But - It's a different kind of - Destination.

Yeah.

It's so wonderful when I see people on our campus and they bump into other people that they know on campus.

And I've only been here a little over a year, and I bump into people I know every day.

And I, I, I really like that.

I love a community that knows each other in community.

It's just, it's wonderful.

- Turns into volunteers and docents.

It's - Absolutely, - It's, it's one big family.

- Absolutely.

So it's, it, living in the Midwest was a new experience for me, and we've just totally embraced it.

My family and I. So yeah.

We we're just incredibly happy here.

- And we'll get into this a little later on, but coming from those bigger zoos and seeing some of the events that can pop up or, or other attractions, does that, do you think that will help in the long run here to where you can kind of cherry pick things like this may help work in this community or this kind of event coming through?

'cause you've seen a lot because of the size of the zoos Yeah.

Where you can bring in that, that new attraction or some other kind of a feel for the zoo.

- Yeah.

When I, when we look at master planning and we look at the future and we think about species that we wanna bring in, we talk a lot about really holding onto the nostalgia of the zoo and making sure that people, when they're here, they see it, they remember it, it's part of their history.

And we never wanna lose that by doing something completely new that people don't recognize.

We wanna hold onto that identity.

But we think about, well, what would be really cool to bring in?

What would our community love?

What would get people really excited?

So we talk a lot right now about reimagining the zoo in a way where we look at our spaces and say, this is a, this is a beautiful spot, but how can we reimagine it in a way where people will recognize it, but also bring in something new that gets people excited.

So that's what we talk about here.

And in my previous use it, it wasn't about that.

It wasn't that recognizable piece, that nostalgia.

It was more of a, okay, let's tear down this area and build this.

- Yeah.

- So it's, it's our master plan.

And what we think moving forward is we embrace the history.

- Yeah.

- It's about the community.

It's about all the wonderful things that have happened here, and how we tell that story is just as important as how we tell the story of the animal.

- Yeah.

It's not just your favorite building's gone, it's decimated.

Those memories are gone.

That's fantastic to kind of, yeah, just, just keep that feeling.

Community cohesiveness.

- Absolutely.

Yeah.

That's fantastic.

- Well, we're gonna take a short break.

We get back, we're gonna find out how she started her journey, the conservation of maybe some of these other zoo she's been at, and how we think that'll, we just some excitement here at the Topeka Zoo.

So stick around.

You're watching Working Capital.

- Hi, I'm Lynn Richter, a KTW, viewer and supporter.

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Thank you very much.

- Welcome back.

Okay.

They all know I'm a, I get excited about animals and all, but what started your, - That's so wonderful, - Your journey down this path.

What was the first thing that led you to wanting to go into zoo Conservation?

- Yeah, yeah.

- What sparked - That?

You know, it's, I was so lucky.

It was a combination of things.

So, like I said earlier, I grew up in New York City, 10 minutes from the Bronx Zoo, - A lot of deer in New York City, - The streets.

Oh, lots of deer.

Yeah.

Lots of deer.

- Bison.

- Lots of bison.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

No, - Just kidding.

- So does it, but I mean, was this it kind of a getaway because you - Were in the city?

It No, wasn't even a getaway.

So when you live in a city, you don't, you're not necessarily looking to get away from the city.

You're just doing things that are in the city.

So I spent a lot of time at the Bronx Zoo and that really shaped my love of zoos and what it could be because the Bronx Zoo, even back in those days, it was all about conservation.

So I, I was already in that frame of mind from a very early age about the impact that zoos can have on conservation and getting people excited about preserving the natural world and all the wonderful things about animals.

So I was already in probably one of the best places to get excited about a zoo.

But the other thing is that part of New York City is full of different cultural institutions.

So there's the Botanical Gardens, the Natural History Museum in Manhattan.

So I had all of the science based resources around me, and I grew up going to those all the time.

But the other piece is that a lot of people dunno about the Bronx is that it's on Long Island Sound.

So my early years in the Bronx and then in the town right next to it called New Rochelle, I grew up on, on the sound.

So I grew up in the water, I grew up on the beach.

And there is so much beauty in the nature that it really just abounds around the sound that, so I had that marriage between that city life and all those resources, but also being able to just be part of nature and having that as part of my every day.

A lot of people don't think of about the Bronx and think about nature.

- They don't a hundred percent.

Like, like when you said that, I'm like, yeah, - Of course.

But it is, there's, there are just some really beautiful places in Westchester and the Bronx, which are right next to each other that I spent my, my younger years being out in the woods and being on trails and spending a lot of time with my dad actually on those trails.

So I had that perfect marriage that got me excited about - It.

That's fantastic.

Well, before we get farther in your journey there, talk about the science and, and how that kind of per interest with kind of the climate these days going away from science and other things, unfortunately, how can the zoo help kind of fill that gap with some of the programs you do?

Are, are you looking for ways you can maybe inspire the next generation of, of conservationists?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So science is a critical piece of what zoos do.

So back in the old days, we say zoos were more of a menagerie, right?

Yeah.

It was just really places where there was just a hodgepodge of animals.

- They could get - Whatever you can to - Get in there and - Absolutely.

And that, that is, couldn't be further from the truth than today.

And even back in the old days when I was at the Bronx Zoo, it was very much about how do we use science to inform what we do in zoos to promote animal welfare and wellbeing.

But also it was married to the science that we do in the field.

So studying animals in the wild, how we collect that information and then apply it to how we care for animals in our zoos.

And then that became more and more important because zoos became a place that we were more about breeding endangered species and endangered species are rare.

So it was all about how do we collect this information in the wild about these rare animals that we're losing?

And then bring that into our zoos so that we can help not just what we're doing to breed animals in our zoos, but how we're promoting the conservation of wild animals in nature.

So science based work is really what zoos do.

We're committed to that.

That's how we make our decisions.

So science is something that we do every day.

And that is something that we try and get kids, older people, we love communicating with seniors about how important a zoo is to them and how we make decisions.

So science is just, gets people excited.

- I know my mom just recently started coming back to the zoo.

Yeah.

With one instance, a - Docent.

Yeah.

So she's - Had this, I - Love our docents.

- She, you know, she gets re-energized and as this new learning thing again, you know?

Yeah.

Because she worked, retired, that kind of deal.

So it's a great place to go and reopened that mind.

Anyways, it's - So docents, I mean, are amazing, right?

Because a lot of our docents are people who have retired and they are reaching out for things that they love.

So they love animals, they love science and they love making those connections with people in their community.

So we love our docent program, but we had this, I don't wanna say it's an epiphany during COV, right?

Because we didn't, we didn't really understand the role that we played in our communities per se, in the sense that zoos are a place to get out in nature.

So when people really couldn't come together in small groups, zoos were so important for getting people out and seeing each other.

And the, the other piece of that was how important Jews are for reducing social isolation, which is something that becomes more and more something that we try and overcome because of so much technology.

So we love science and we do love technology, but at the same time, it creates a wider divide between nature and people because they don't spend as much time out in nature.

Instead, we're looking at our phones and doing that kind of thing.

So we really found this role of, we don't just communicate about animals, we bring people together.

One of the experiences I had when I came in for my interview is I walked through the garden and I saw this young man probably in his early thirties, and he was sitting by himself in the garden just so peacefully.

And I thought the zoo is more than a place that you just come to look at animals.

It's a place where people find reflection, connection, and there's healing.

Healing, yeah.

Heal.

Absolutely.

There's nothing more powerful than the healing of, of being around nature.

Right.

Especi things in perspective.

Especially - Because, because people, especially this kind of zoo that's so community focused, a lot of people do have their favorite animal.

So Absolutely.

A friend of mine going through a lot of stuff, they were here almost every day sitting with the - Orangutans.

Absolutely.

'cause that - Was their spot.

And that's where they could reflect and feel like, I feel like they were safe.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Absolutely.

So it's amazing what you can find in a spot like this that you wouldn't normally think - Of.

Yeah.

It reminds you that you're part of something bigger.

Right.

When we get caught in the everyday things that kind of drag us down or get us, you know, kind of off center and then you see an animal like an orangutan, or you hear the roar of a lion, or even some of the small animals, if you come and watch our golden lion tamarinds bouncing around.

Oh, favorite.

It makes you remember you're part of something that is so much bigger then we're part of a, we're part of the world.

We're not just part of our everyday things that consume us.

There's something bigger going on here.

- Yeah.

- And animals in nature really put that in perspective.

- Yeah.

It's not just about conservation of the animals, really.

It's conservation of your own soul.

- At least here it really is of us.

Right.

We're all connected.

- We are us.

Stick around.

We'll be right back.

You've been watching Working Capital.

Welcome back, Christina.

So where do you see the zoo headed in the future?

You know, we've had, - Yeah, we've had - Some great improvements, you know, great new areas, the giraffes, the, anyways, I'm, I'm too excited.

So - Yeah.

- Where, where are we headed?

- Well, interestingly, we just started the process of talking about what's our next direction?

What are we gonna do with master planning?

What does that process look like?

And we've been really talking more about vision pieces.

So what does that mean to us?

What does the future hold?

A lot of it is something that I talked about with identity, right?

We want to create a campus that people recognize, but are really excited to come back to and see something new.

So this re-imagining of our campus, what does that look like?

And it's, it's something that we talk to staff about now in terms of what do you see?

What do you, where do you want us to go?

What does that look like?

It's really a group process, but it, it really is about holding onto who we are and telling that story.

So for example, the project that we are building right now is called Tiger Trails and Den Academy.

And we're not just building a new tiger experience.

Right Tiger.

So it's so important to us.

It's one of our, our most important programs.

We're great at breeding tigers, we're recognized for that.

But the story in Tigers, it's about all those good pieces, but it's the story of a community.

And one of the things that when I came here was so remarkable is that we have these huge stories in Topeka and people, I don't want people to forget about them.

And we want the kids in our community to say, my goodness that happened here.

I can do something like that.

It's that whole being able to stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before you to know that big things happen here.

And when you grow up here, you can be part of that as well.

And I, I talk a lot about that because I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, believe it or not.

And I want them to be part of that feeling to know what has happened here.

So with Tiger Trails and Den Academy, it's very much about the Morris family and how that family created hills and a diet line called Z Cream.

And when I was working in Australia, I used those diets.

And when I came here, I said, that happened here.

This whole, this idea that what, how we take care of our animals and their wellbeing, how important that is and how that's related to nutrition.

It's just something, it's like common knowledge now in zoos and around the world.

But that wasn't before.

And what happened here in Topeka has revolutionized how we care for animals and zoos all around the world.

Isn't that the most re like, remarkable story?

It, it's, how can, can we not tell that here?

- Yeah.

And a lot of people we know hills, yes, we need to do good work.

We know they have great food for your, your pets, but we've lost the decades of their history of that and, - And yeah.

- What they've done worldwide.

So - Yeah.

So part of the story we tell in Tiger Trails is about how animal nutrition came about, how it evolved and how important it is in endangered species conservation.

So that's the story we want everyone to know when they come through here to say, my goodness, I'm so proud that this happened where I grew up - And, and that conservation, the tigers are the newest thing, but yeah.

Even went the giraffes.

That's been a great - Program.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

- And, and one of the biggest ones, well, I should say the smallest ones you guys are doing are, I forget which beetle it is, but Joe Maloney - Oh yeah.

The tiger bee.

The tiger beetle, yeah.

- Yeah.

So, and the, the brackish salted water and it's, there's not very many left.

Yeah.

There's one of the smallest ecosystems on the planet.

- Yeah.

- And so you guys - Here work with those, Joe's gonna be so happy ever that you're talking about the I love it.

- I mean, - Tiger Beetles - One of our, his - Yes.

- Is a little tiny zoo of insects and, and oh, it's one of the best spots in this zoo.

So - Unless - You shouldn't get all, they won't give you the heap beebies, make sure you check these things out.

But what he's doing with these beetles is amazing.

- Yeah.

- And the students that go with them, and like I say, you're doing conservation from the biggest animals to the smallest, - To the littlest ones.

- Everything - Kind.

It's all creek tiger beetles.

- Yeah.

- We love talking about tiger beetles because it's, it isn't just about the big animals, it's about the little animals as well.

And what, what it's about is really this preservation of the beauty of nature.

Right.

Whatever shape and size it comes in.

When I take my daughter here, the first place she wants to go is the bug zoo.

She loves tarantula.

I'm not really sure where she got that from.

- Yeah.

- But it always reminds me that where those connections can be made, they should be made.

And that we're a place where you can, if you love, if you love tarantulas, you can come learn about them.

If you wanna learn about tiger beetles and tiger beetle conservation, you can come here.

So it's, it's really, it's about the little things.

It's about the big things and it's about really everything in between.

- And of course you couldn't do this if you weren't here.

So I'm sure ticket sales alone do not cover all this.

How does the community and the zoo interact with each other to, to make this place work?

- Yeah.

Well, the community has been incredible.

So we have something called the Gauge Park Improvement Authority.

And that is the, the body that oversees the sales tax.

So we get revenue from the 0.2% countywide sales tax that was put in place, I believe in 23.

So what that does for us is it creates this revenue stream where that allowed us to move away from the city in terms of our operations.

So for us, we have this incredible revenue source that goes to our operations, but also to our capital projects.

So by contributing to that pot of money, we, this is how we build stuff.

This is how we invest in our campus and bring all the things that we feel are really important to our community to life.

So people every day when they go out and shop and do their business, they're contributing to what, what we're doing here at the zoo.

But it's about special events.

Brew at the zoo is about to happen Oh, over the weekend.

So when you come to bar, that's what you're doing.

It's not just about coming here and having a, a cold beer.

Although that is what, if that's what you wanna do, come here and do it.

But when you do it, know that you are part of something that makes the zoo flourish and grow and provide what we do to our community.

So it's a beer with a mission.

- Yeah.

- And we try and re remind people of that every time you walk through our gate, it's an act of conservation.

Your ticket, our, your, the money that you spend on your ticket is helping us take care of these animals and to bring this message to your family, to your friends.

So everything we do here from events to what we sell at concessions, to what you buy in retail helps us do what we do and deliver our promise to our community.

- And on top of that, this is a great spot too.

If you're a smaller business or a starting out business, some of these events, there are smaller sponsorships.

So you can get your name out, you can be part of a community as you're starting and growing your own business.

It's a great way to get out there, meet people.

So there's a lot of opportunities all across the board here.

- There's an opportunity for everyone.

That was something we talked about with the Tiger campaign.

So we do a lot of fundraising.

Our donors are amazing.

People in this community are so generous.

But what we wanted to do was make sure everybody had an opportunity to contribute, whether it's at a high donor level, whether it's at a sponsorship.

But we even put in coin twirls.

Yeah.

Because even if it was a little kid who had a quarter and they believed in their zoo that they could give in some way to help create something.

- And well, even them giving that nickel, you don't know what in their own head that sparks - Absolutely.

- And it grows inside themselves going forward.

- Yeah.

Every action is meaningful.

It doesn't matter how big or how small it, it gives people an opportunity to be a part again of something bigger.

- Yeah.

It's - So, yeah, the coin, the coin twirled, I was even happy with that.

It was just, - Yeah.

You never know what will spike and create a bigger community and abin, it's like when we first started, which I mean a station throughout the decades, there's been partners here, but - Yeah, - This last time we really became interconnected again was with the G draft cams.

- Yeah.

- And it gave this worldwide audience.

- Isn't - That wonderful?

That was them buying in, you know, and they were, they were sending toys and gifts to the giraffes and it's this - Yeah.

- From Germany, from from New York, from all over.

Yeah.

So you never know where the buy-in comes from.

- Absolutely.

And that's really what it's all about.

It's just getting people to know that you, you come here and make, make connections.

Whether it's with a docent that's behind an education cart to learn something new or to sit in front of the orangutans and look into the eyes of an animal who looks back at you with the same curiosity.

It's just, it's amazing.

There's so many different experiences here.

We're really a zoo for everyone.

- It can really be humbling to look in those eyes if you take the time.

You know?

- My goodness.

It sure is.

It's something special every day here.

- It's, it's an amazing spot.

Thank you for bringing your talents and thank you.

And helping leave this great spot in Topeka.

So - Wonderful.

I am so privileged to be here.

Like I said, we love our new community, we love our zoo.

I could, we couldn't be happier.

So thank you for having me.

- Thank you for being on the show, Christina.

And thank you to the community out there.

'cause places like the zoo, places like our station, KTW wouldn't be possible without community members like you.

So thanks for watching Working Capital.

We'll see you next time.

To catch up on previous episodes of Working Capital scan the QR code with your phone or go to www.watch.kw.org.

Funding for working capital is provided by the Friends of KTWA, Raven C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation.

And go Topeka.