As attendance and income drop, can America's zoos -- and Willow Park -- survive?

By Jill Prichard

May 3, 2005 | Monkeys, wallabies and Asian waterfowl are lurking in your back yard.

Across from Cache County's Fairgrounds is a tiny, underdeveloped zoo. A small barn, donated by the Tupperware Corporation while in Logan for an annual convention, was the first building for the small-town menagerie.

Zookeepers soon installed an aviary on the side of the barn that housed Willow Park Zoo's first exhibit, fantailed pigeons.

Inadequate financial assistance and support from the city and county have prevented proper regulatory housing facilities. Exhibit roofs are covered in faded plastic siding. A small cage areas store roaming animals for bobcats are just two housing issues Willow Park needs to improve.

"Funding is half from the city and half from the county. Little as it is, it is frequently decreased," said Karl Kallmeyer, evening zookeeper.

Lack of funding has stalled Willow Park Zoo's goal of becoming an accredited national zoo.

Zoos gain accreditation from The American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

According to its Web site, zoos are to establish, uphold and raise the highest zoological and aquarium industry standards through self-evaluation, on-site inspection and peer review. Their main goals are to assure the highest standard for animal care is established. Some benefits of receiving and maintaining accreditation are swapping rare animals for exhibit and breeding which can only take place between accredited zoos. These zoos attract thousands of more people than smaller zoos.

With funding constantly curtailed and public interest decreasing, can small town American zoos be saved from extinction?

Attendance is the financial backbone for successful zoos. Admission to Willow Park costs 50 cents, which is a "suggested donation." According to Rod Wilhelm, zoo curator, the city councils chose to have the fee be a donation only to prevent from limiting visitors to the zoo.

"There are too few things affordable to do," said Wilhelm.

Increasing finances is a large part of Wilhelm's "master plan" to help Willow Park gain its accreditation. Plans include bigger and newer exhibits, new animals such as a black bear, educational camps for children and the addition of a park theme ride. With these improvements, Wilhelm expects to see attendance rise.

With a donation box, there are no exact attendance records; however, through money collected and zookeeper's counts, there has been a significant decrease in the turnout over the last six years. In 1999, the zoo had 145,673 visitors with a decline of 22,000 per year, including the 115, 129 that visited in 2004. This tapering off has not only affected small town American zoos.

A drop in tourism and attendance, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, had 34 employees laid off at the end of 2003 from the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Paid admission dropped about 300,000 over a three year period. However, the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium saw an attendance at a five-year high at then end of 2004, according to The News Tribune. The zoo's "new life" is credited to the $35 million in improvements received from a voter-approved bond. Aging facilities and lack of financial assistance threatened the zoo's national accreditation, which would have eventually closed the zoo.

Voters approved a small sale tax to support the local zoo.

Zoos provide communities an opportunity to view rare and endangered animals and observe hundreds of species in their natural behavior.

"Zoos are here to educate the public and so they can see animals that otherwise they'd never see," says Kallmeyer.

Zoos are also used for species that are almost extinct -- housed for protection and preservation. Part of the protection battle for the Willow Park Zoo is that the public doesn't refrain from feeding and scaring the animals. Signs around the zoo are often ignored about how to treat the animals that are on exhibit.

"People assume human characteristics on animals and forget they are still wild animals," said Wilhelm.

A sign posted at the entrance of Willow Park Zoo explains five reasons not to feed the animals. The first is that feeding animals causes obesity. Zoo animals are on strict diets created by zookeepers.

Additional food given by the public is treated like kids receiving candy by the animals. Small exhibit space prevents them from receiving exercise to maintain their normal diets and the added food from zoo patrons. Other issues include health issues for the animals, making the wild animals tame, the mess human food makes and USDA regulations.

Wilhelm explains that the same concept is applied when trying to "pet an animal."

"People need to respect the zoo animals. They are coming into their home," says Kallmeyer.

Willow Park houses two bald eagles, America's national bird. Heavily protected by the government, Willow Park obtained permission to house the birds.

Zoos receive Animals, such as the eagles, because they are hurt in the wild and after being nurtured back to health in zoos, but would not survive if deposited back into the wild. Other animals that are exhibited in zoos are "captive breed" (meaning mated with two existing zoo animals and born in the zoo), would also not know how to survive in the wild.

Willow Park is home to a waterfowl collection that has become regionally known for its quality and diversity. The various species of animals from Europe, Australia, South America and Asia have impressed residents for many years. People also share memories of the black bear and cub that was home to Willow Park. The North American black bear cub, Alice, was born in captivity and lived 35 years.

Like the Willow Park bear, animals in larger cities often become icons in areas where they reside.

Zoo Atlanta houses several favorite animals that have become a part of the city's family. The late "Willie B" was the most loved animal in the zoo's history. A gorilla raised in captivity from birth captured the hearts of the thousands of people that traveled to the zoo just to see "Willie B." At his death in 2000, more than 7,000 people attended his funeral. Another local favorite is a Sumatran tiger named, "Jalal," who is one of only 400 to 500 remaining in the world. These tigers are critically endangered due to poaching and loss of their habitat. Zoo homes to endangered species like these help keep these exotic animals from disappearing. Other major zoos, such as ‘Solar Sue' at the Denver Zoo have their own unique animal icons that soften the hearts of zoo attendants regardless of age.

With creatures from pronghorn deer to Australian wallabies, Willow Park contains residents that delight and educate. From small means to great dreams, Willow Park Zoo will continue to provide northern Utahns with rare encounters of species from all over the world.

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