It’s honestly kind of baffling that trying at this would still be considered a good plan.
There probably was a time(potentially one that stretched right up until around the point where printing photographs in books and newspapers became cheap; some artistic interpretations of exotic animals lean heavily toward ‘interpretation’) when exotic animals were a good asymmetric information bet; but now?
Are there really that many people who care enough to buy zoo admission (and can do so); while never having seen a tattered used book about charismatic megafauna; or a few youtube clips on a janky smartphone, or something?
It reminds me of my time in Moldova. I learned there was a zoo in the capitol city of Chisinau, where I was staying, but my Moldovan friend warned me off, stating that it was no better than a roadside petting zoo. I’m not real hot for zoos for the obvious reasons, but if a certain exotic animals aren’t available, and a certain level of care possible, perhaps it isn’t a good idea to advertise them.
It wouldn’t be entirely surprising if it was more of a “our old zebra went EOL under circumstances that would reflect very, very, poorly on our standards of animal husbandry and veterinary adequacy; how can we obtain a replacement with as little fuss and fewest questions asked as possible?” exercise.
