After 30 years of building Mogo Zoo, founder Sally Padey has spoken frankly about her decision to sell to the owners of Western Sydney's Featherdale Wildlife Park.
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Ms Padey said Featherdale's Chad Staples approached her about 15 months ago, curious about what her plans were for the zoo.
She had faith Mr Staples would "carry on my legacy".
"I think Chad is going to really take it on like I did. He has a passion for it. He loves Mogo Zoo and it just happened at the right time," she said.
"If you had asked me five years ago would I have done this - no way. Should I have done it five years ago? Now I've done it, I kind of wish I had. But I had to come to that conclusion.
I'm going to go see my daughter and see my grandchildren grow up a little.
- Sally Padey
"All through the building of Mogo Zoo, I've always tried to learn from my mistakes and to better the next thing I do. Yeah, there's been some challenges - really big challenges.
"Am I going to cope the morning after I've left here? I don't know."
She said rumours about the impending sale were disappointing.
"There have been a lot of rumours going around, which were really upsetting me because they were stirring up my staff," she said.
"It was no one else's business - so what if I decided to sell my zoo?"
Ms Padey plans to spend more time with family.
"It's something that took me 12 months before I did it. I need a life. I'm going to be 62 next week.
"I'm going to go see my daughter and see my grandchildren grow up a little. I never did with my daughter because she was five when we started this."
Mr Staples said the group had owned Featherdale for about five years and he had no concerns Featherdale or Mogo Zoo would become developed land.
Mr Staples said he was humbled by the opportunity.
"I really hope the residents of the South Coast who have known and loved Mogo forever understand that us coming in, we really understand how special this place is, and it's not something we're coming in to change," he said.
"I'm absolutely humbled at this opportunity and so I'll be doing everything in my power to make sure it's nothing but a success."
Featherdale owner Elanor Investors Group is an ASX-listed Australian investment and funds management business.
Its website says it is "focused on acquiring and unlocking value in real estate assets that provide strong income and capital growth potential".
Mr Staples said the group had owned Featherdale for about five years and he had no concerns Featherdale or Mogo Zoo would become developed land.
"If that's what the plan was, it would have been done," he said.
"I work for one of the most amazing CEOs there is on the planet. He's such an amazing, ethical man. He honestly rings me after a storm or a hot day and asks me how the animals are."
Ms Padey said she wanted animals "to benefit" from being at the zoo.
"If we were going to have people to come in to look at an animal in an enclosure, that animal needed to benefit from being there," she said.
"That's why we chose endangered, exotic species."
Mr Staples said he would continue Ms Padey's plans.
"There's nothing groundbreaking but there will be new species and some of those iconic Australian species," he said.
"There's no other collection like this in the country. That's the legacy. No one else could have done it. It's got such a special feel to it.
"You can't take a forward step if you don't know where you've come from. It's been lovely hearing what Sally's plans were for everything because it all makes more sense."
He said he would spend a lot of time in Mogo "in the beginning", because he had "personalities to learn and get to know because every individual has its own requirements".
"There are some amazing species here and so I need to understand everything from the ground up in order to be able to do my job," he said.
Ms Padey and Mr Staples did not disclose the sale price.
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