Volume 3, No. 17. September 12,2003
AZA Report
Woes
be gone
No question, it
has been a troubled zoo. No doubt, too, it has a brighter future than its dismal
recent past.
Even before the American Zoo and Aquarium Association tabled the accreditation
renewal application last spring of the Smithsonian Institution’s National
Zoological Park (National Zoo) in Washington, D.C., the zoo already was pursuing
a new strategic plan. The AZA’s action, effectively putting the zoo on
probation for one year, in fact fit in with the zoo’s efforts to accomplish
that plan.
Now entering her fourth year as director, Lucy Spelman feels the zoo is poised
to make a strong comeback to a level she desires. Being the “National Zoo”
in the nation’s capitol, “We ought to be one of the best zoos in the
country,” Spelman said. She plans to accomplish that by allying the zoo’s
strongest resource, its large scientific arm, with a concerted effort to renovate
facilities and improve the animal collection. Already she has “reshaped
the whole senior staff,” she said.
As for renewing facilities, the process has been painful but expected. “I
had worked at the zoo as a veterinarian. I knew we had old facilities,”
she said. She started by creating a “failure map,” surveying all the
zoo’s structures. Using that methodical process, the zoo identified 14
out of its 29 major buildings as being more than 25 years old, many of those
up to 100 years old. They have undergone just minor renovations over the years.
Using the failure map, Spelman has set a priority list for which buildings need
to be renovated or replaced.
Over the years the National Zoo also has shrunk, she pointed out; fewer buildings,
fewer staff, fewer animals, but growing needs. The purpose of the strategic
plan is to reverse that trend, and the first big step along that way, Asia Trail,
is under way and expected to be open in early 2005. It will feature sloth bears,
fishing cats, giant salamander, clouded leopards and a new home for the giant
pandas. Phase two of Asia Trail will focus on elephants.
A key element of Asia Trail’s development is its funding: half is public
money (the Smithsonian is an official arm of the U.S. federal government) and
half is private. Raising money in the private sector is a new frontier for the
National Zoo. “Private funding hadn’t been my predecessor’s primary
job,” Spelman said. “It is one of my primary jobs.” So far this
year she has raised $4 million. Since 2001, the zoo has received about $11 million
a year in non-federal funds, such as grants and donations.
Funding, Spelman said, is not a problem for the zoo, except that so much work
needs to be done so quickly. The state of the physical plant is this zoo’s
problem, and when the AZA tabled National’s accreditation application,
it served notice to the government and Washington society that their zoo’s
state should no longer be ignored. The committee also recognized that Spellman
had already launched her strategic plan, and by tabling the application the
accreditation committee was giving National a chance to come back with a stronger
case. “We have been able to build on what the Accreditation Committee asked
for,” Spelman said.
“We’ve accomplished an awful lot,” she said. “For 10 years,
a whole lot didn’t happen at the zoo.” For the next 10 years, at least,
a lot likely will happen there.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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