Oakland Zoo closure could be permanent
The Oakland Zoo, which has been shuttered since midMarch due to the coronavirus outbreak, is losing $2 million a month and may have to shut down permanently unless it is allowed to reopen as an “outdoor museum,” officials said Wednesday.
Nik Dehejia, executive vice president of the zoo, told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that the 100acre zoo in the Oakland hills is experiencing “financial distress” due to a lack of visitors.
“We are at risk of closure,” he said, although a date for a permanent shutdown was not immediately known.
Zoo President Joel Parrott said emergency federal funds have run out and
the zoo is now surviving on a $3 million reserve fund, which will be gone in months. The zoo is asking to be classified as an outdoor museum similar to regional parks or botanical gardens, which have been allowed to reopen, rather than as a restaurant or indoor business, which have not.
The request to reopen, Parrott said, is “based on science, not based on the fact that we need the money.”
The proposal would allow admission to the zoo by reservation only and visitors would have to arrive at their assigned time. Masks and social distancing would be required, and indoor exhibits and restaurants would be closed, as would amusement rides and the children’s theater. The number of daily visitors would be capped at 2,500, down from the current 7,000.
“The science says we can do this safely,” Parrott said.
During its closure, the zoo has cut corners on everything except animal care, Parrott said. Nearly half the zoo’s 250 employees have been laid off, and the pay of senior staff has been cut.
The strain of being closed for three months has also taken a toll on many zoo animals, who are keenly aware of the absence of paying primates.
Parrott said the giraffes don’t seem to care but the bears, wolves and chimpanzees clearly notice the empty visitor paths by their enclosure and seem to miss the company. The chimps, he said, can show signs of aggression “when they are not distracted by the sight of people coming by.”
For months, the zoo has been drawing up plans to reopen in conjunction with the Alameda County Public Health Department. Neetu Balram, an agency spokesman, said the health department had requested the “outdoor museum” designation for the zoo, but “that is the state’s determination to make.”
Zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison said the zoo believes it can reopen safely on a limited basis, and it has taken extensive precautions that include installing hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the grounds.
“We’re ready,” Harrison said. “We’ve done everything we can do.”
Although the San Francisco and Los Angeles zoos remain closed, the Sacramento Zoo, San Diego Zoo and others in California have been allowed to reopen on a limited basis to visitors who wear masks and maintain social distance.
Admission to the Sacramento Zoo is by reservation only. Its website offers $17.50 tickets to visitors who must arrive at their assigned times and agree to “voluntarily assume all risks related to” possible virus transmission. The San Diego Zoo is admitting only half its usual number of visitors.
The San Francisco Zoo had announced plans to reopen on Monday but postponed those plans after health officials would not go along with the “outdoor museum” designation.
For months, the Oakland Zoo has been trying to bring in revenue any way it can. A visit to its website starts with a plea for donations of up to $500 to its Animal Care Fund, before offering $60 elephant hoodies and $23 stuffed penguins through its online store. A new program also features animalrelated cocktail recipes.
Oakland Zoo memberships remain on sale with a 15% reduction in price. Sales have obviously lagged since they offer free admission to a shutdown zoo.
The Oakland Zoo, established in 1922, is located in the Oakland hills east of Interstate 580 and is home to 700 animals. In 2018, it opened its $70 million California Trail addition on a hillside accessible by an aerial gondola.