For Mark Stone, art has definitely imitated life.
"I had a day with Benjamin Mee who wrote the book We Bought a Zoo. He is in the process of writing his next book which is, 'Never Buy a Zoo'."
There have been tough times since the Stone family took on Billabong Zoo in 2004.
At that time Mark's son, Blake, was a child.
"13 years ago this was a zoo that was about to undergo forced closure, which doesn't happen to that many zoos. It would have been incredibly unfortunate if it was to continue to travel down that path."
Now the zoo makes enough to fund attractions like its newest tenants: two lion cubs that Mark says each cost $100,000.
"These guys are ambassadors for their species, and that's their primary role."
When the time is right, their other job will be to create more cubs - something head keeper Kristy Brown says is crucial for the species
"These two are not related, so when they are old enough - say four years of age - they'll be able to breed, so they are a really important new bloodline."
Mark says the acquisition of endangered snow leopards was the zoo's turning point in 2008, boosting turnover by 90 per cent in one year.
"It's not rocket science (difficult) in that side of things. If you can supply something to the marketplace they can only get from you, that becomes your niche."
The zoo's primary revenue stream is ticket sales, with more than 100,000 people through the gates every year.
Half of them are overseas tourists, but there is growing interest from locals buying annual passes, which makes innovation a necessity, according to Blake.
"Kids are fascinated by animals, I think you could bring a kid every day of the week and it would never get old (bored) with it, but especially for adults, even young adults, introducing new things is really important."
Each of 220 animals on site is fed several times a day, a cost that grows as they do.
Enclosures can cost up to a quarter of a million dollars to build, and maintenance is ongoing.
Despite being a small operator, the zoo doesn't compromise on staffing, something Blake says allows it to provide a niche experience
"We have a person and a half to two people extra every day, because we do fourteen presentations. I mean, this school holidays we were doing 17 presentations every single day."
Mark has simple advice for would-be zoo owners.
"If you're looking for monetary gain - don't buy a zoo!"
For him the dollars are less important than the animals' wellbeing.
Mark helped ban koala cuddling in New South Wales, despite tourist photos with the famous natives bringing many zoos more than a million dollars a year.
"Well we now have a really good breeding program because our animals are, we believe, happier in the environment they are in, and then those animals can be supplied to other facilities."
