Ky Fauna Park thrown to lions

Generations of community commitment and professional polish to create Kyabram Fauna Park is at risk of disaster from a sweeping Zoos Victoria proposal to shake up management of its four locations and slash jobs.

And the cuts target all Kyabram’s senior management team – with five of its 25 staff slated to go under the changes.

Remaining staff – and the park’s ongoing management – are expected to will be directed from Healesville Sanctuary, more than 200km away.

A decision Kyabram staff have described as shortsighted and unworkable.

Kyabram Fauna Park celebrated its golden anniversary earlier this year, three years after the Victorian government decreed Zoos Victoria would take over its management – a move at first embraced by the Kyabram community for its iconic attraction.

Zoos Victoria manages Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Kyabram Fauna Park.

Kyabram spans 55ha and is home to more than 600 animals – and is the second largest zoo in the portfolio.

Community and Public Sector Union representative Verity Archer says members “categorically reject the proposed restructure and job cuts put forward by management at Zoos Victoria”.

Unions with members involved and now fighting to save the jobs are the CPSU, United Workers Union and CFMEU.

“We will fight these cuts, which put the safety and welfare of workers, the public and animals at risk and threaten the ongoing viability of all four Zoos Victoria sites,” she says.

“We will fight to save these beloved public institutions and the critical role they play in conservation efforts across the world.

“We call on the Victorian government to intervene as a matter of urgency and for Zoos Victoria management to immediately withdraw this ill-conceived proposal.”

The unions have also recruited Nationals Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, in their campaign to end the cuts and guarantee the long-term future of the Fauna Park.

Mr Walsh has met with union representatives and will take their cause to Parliament as soon as it resumes later this month.

He says the deadlines currently imposed by Zoos Victoria for staff comments and feedback are “ridiculously short considering the organisation has been working on this proposal since last year”.

“Given Dr Jenny Grey, the long-term chief executive of Zoos Victoria, and the person responsible for all this change, left in April, the whole process demands an immediate reassessment,” Mr Walsh says.

“The people of Kyabram have worked hard for 50 years to build the Fauna Park into the success story it currently is, and having seen the arrival of Zoos Victora as a saviour for its future security will be shattered to hear they have now been sucked into a bureaucratic black hole where boardroom decisions could ruin not reassure the future of the enterprise,” he says.

“My understanding is not a single senior person from Zoos Victoria have visited Kyabram to see how it functions, to discuss how its budget is managed and to ask staff for input into the proposal.

“To me that seems absurd – why wouldn’t you ask the management team and the staff who intimately understand the facility about its future?”
A UWU spokesperson says the four zoos are face losing as many as 100 roles, impacting staff across conservation, animal care, visitor services and other critical areas which help protect wildlife.

“Workers are devastated by the uncertainty. Many have dedicated years to what they describe as their dream job; caring for animals, educating the community and helping conserve Victoria's unique wildlife,” the union says.
“These cuts come at a time when workers are already reporting severe workloads and cost-of-living pressures.
“Ticket sales and membership revenue increased $4.6 million last year, yet as many as 100 roles are now under threat.”

Mr Walsh says in the short time Zoos Victoria has been at the helm of Kyabram Fauna Park nearly every cent spent there had come from DEECA funding, not Zoos Victoria.

“I am told in the three years of Zoos Victoria the annual Kyabram operating budget has been cut from $1.3 million to $710,000 and the park has come in under budget each year.”