The Baton Rouge Zoo, it seems, can’t avoid controversy. On the heels of a fight over where to locate the zoo comes news the facility has lost its accreditation from the prestigious American Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The decision comes just three days after the BREC Board of Commissioners rejected a push from department administrators to relocate the flailing zoo from its aging north Baton Rouge home to a new location in the southeastern part of the parish.
The AZA decision, BREC said this morning, came after a weekend meeting of the AZA accreditation commission and was based on a December inspection of the zoo during which examiners identified several problems, including outdated, cramped space at several primate exhibits, rusted cages and inadequate lighting.
The decision also apparently took into account the BREC board’s March 22 vote to keep the zoo in Baker’s Greenwood Park.
“(AZA) examiners expressed broad concerns regarding dated exhibits that are not reflective of modern zoological practices, along with an aging infrastructure which makes repair and maintenance exponentially difficult,” BREC says in a statement about the AZA decision. “Additionally, examiners closely monitored the discussions regarding potential zoo relocation and investments in a more sustainable, modern location.”
Baton Rouge Zoo Director Phil Frost and BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight have argued the zoo is not sustainable at its current site because it is far from the more affluent, high growth areas of the parish and also because some donors have indicated their unwillingness to put up big money for a new zoo at the aging location.
Opponents of the move argued the problem with the zoo is not its location in north Baton Rouge but BREC’s lack of investments and upgrades over the years.
The AZA report certainly suggests the zoo has suffered from a lack of investment. Among the more egregious findings from the December inspection:
- Several primates are still housed in corn crib exhibits that are “small and provide very limited animal and keeper space.”
- Aging infrastructure, including a cracked wall in the back of the hippo pygmy exhibit, rusted cages, and concrete deterioration in some moats.
- Three animal escapes between June 2016 and Oct. 2017.
- No or inadequate supplemental lighting at a dozen exhibits.
The AZA notes several of the problems were identified in previous inspections and had not been corrected.
In a response to the report, Frost outlines corrective measures that either have been taken since the December inspection or are currently underway to address each of the concerns.
“We will closely follow the concerns highlighted by the AZA Accreditation Commission as a guide for addressing all outstanding issues that led to this decision, as we work diligently to ensure that we regain our accreditation over the course of the next few years to the extent current funding and other currently dedicated resources will allow,” Frost says.
BREC commissioners say they were shocked and disappointed by the report and did not realize the zoo’s accreditation was in jeopardy.
“I am deeply disheartened the zoo did not meet the standards for accreditation status,” says commission Chairman Lloyd Benson II, adding that ‘with support promised by city officials,” the zoo will regain accreditation status by the next evaluation period.
Commissioner Davis Rhorer says he wants to see an immediate remediation plan from BREC, as well as a long term strategy to rebuild the zoo at Greenwood Park.
Frost, in his statement, says, “An immediate funding campaign will be needed in order to achieve this.”
Though BREC’s statement says the agency is disappointed by the loss of accreditation, it tried to downplay the significance, noting that less than 10% of animal exhibitors registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture—232 out of some 2,800—have achieved AZA accreditation.
