Denver Zoo seeking to increase its admission fees

The Denver Post

The Denver Zoo considers itself a city within a city, where the upkeep of its animal inhabitants is subject to the same rising costs many people in the metro area are facing.

That’s why the zoo is seeking an admission increase — the first since 2014.

The zoo wants to raise the price of tickets to $20 from $17 for those ages 1264; to $14 from $12 for kids ages 3-11; and to $17 from $14 for people ages 65 and older. Kids ages 2 and under would still get in free.

The proposal also would raise rental fees for the zoo’s various spaces.

“Just like what many are experiencing in the city — rising costs of goods, services, housing,” said Andrew Rowan, the senior director of external relations. “We’re not immune to that, and we’ve been experiencing increases to those in the last four years.”

Because the zoo is in City Park, the price hike needs the Denver City Council’s approval. The council’s business committee on Wednesday unanimously advanced the plan for a hearing by the full council on April 2.

Officials are also interested in implementing an annual zoo admission fee increase based on the Colorado Consumer Price Index, beginning in 2020. The zoo estimated, based on current rates, a 25 cent annual increase.

The zoo’s operational costs have gone up a total of about 28 percent over the past four years, Rowan said. Much of this money, he said, was going toward animal welfare, such as ensuring that the leaf matter that omnivores munch on is as fresh as it can be.

“When you cut it off the tree, it loses a lot of nutritional content,” Rowan said. “We need to maintain the freshest we can.”

Zoo officials also want to tackle deferred maintenance on the 80-acre complex. More than half of its 100 buildings are made up of infrastructure that is “functionally obsolete” and requires critical attention, according to documents that zoo interim president and CEO Denny O’Malley provided to the council.

Competition for specialized zookeepers is also increasing, Rowan said. The zoo has to compete for employees at other zoos in less-expensive cities such as Dallas and Salt Lake City.

“Denver is becoming an incredibly expensive place to live, and our animal care staff and vet staff are highly skilled positions,” Rowan said. “We want to make sure we can continue to recruit and retain these employees.” But the zoo also hopes the fee increase will help provide more discounted and free experiences for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford the cost.

“We don’t take any cost increase lightly,” Rowan said.

The zoo will propose a new Denver Human Services program that would allow people covered by the state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to enter the zoo for $1.