COVID-19 is Bankrupting the Zoo
Oregon zoo has been closed for more than a month, and is fast running out of money. They are asking the public for a million dollars in donations. This is on top of the $40,000 per day that Oregon Metro, the regional government, has been giving them even before the Covid-19 related closure. Why are they in this situation in the first place? The main reason is that the zoo insists on keeping exotic animals elephants and polar bears which require high maintenance. Termed charismatic megafauna, the zoo fears that without these anchor animals to attract the casual visitor, their visitor counts will drop. Visitor counts are dropping anyway at zoos everywhere. The situation is so desperate that a zoo in Germany has plans to slaughter animals and feed them to each other.
How do elephant sanctuaries avoid this problem? The fundamental reason is that sanctuaries are not dependent on visitors to fund them. Being animal-centric, they prioritize animal well-being and care and always have sufficient finances as a buffer. Zoos are visitor-centric where animal welfare comes second, and we find Oregon zoo take it to more extremes with hosting longer summer concerts and even having visitors feed animals for extra money. Now they are so dependent on visitor revenues that they have a serious funding shortfall they are scrambling to address. Although sanctuaries may also feel the impact of the economic downturn that is sure to follow the pandemic, at least they are better prepared to perform fundraising accordingly, and they already have a reliable donor base built over the years. The zoo also does have OZF to fund them, but evidently it is not enough. In the following weeks, the zoo would be forced to reckon with tough choices on triaging the limited budget they have, and it wouldn’t be surprising that elephants, with their high maintenance costs, would get shortchanged. Chendra especially has a long list of health issues, which it is unclear, will be adequately addressed under a restricted budget. Wouldn’t it be too tempting to just pump her up with cheap painkillers than to fund a serious treatment, if you’re short on cash?
It is ironic that six years ago, when we asked Metro Council to retire Packy soon after he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, they responded that the zoo, with public funding and oversight, can house Packy better than private sanctuaries can, which proved to be ill-founded. Now we have a situation where five elephants have died since, including Packy, and the zoo is begging the public for money because Metro wouldn’t fully fund their budget. A well-funded sanctuary is offering to house Chendra, but Metro is dragging their feet.
It is not too late to break this chain by retiring Chendra. And if you’re looking to help animals during this pandemic, please direct your donations to qualified elephant sanctuaries rather than the zoo.