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rfmcdonaldThe Toronto Star's Jennifer Pagliaro writes about the Toronto Zoo's ever-going struggle for viability. I did not know that it faced so many issues.
(Perhaps I should go this year?)
(Perhaps I should go this year?)
When the gates of the Metro Toronto Zoo opened in Aug. 15, 1974, officials anticipated a first day crush of 50,000 visitors.
What they got was 8,000 as officials blamed an ongoing transit strike and fears of overcrowding for keeping visitors away. It wasn’t the only glitch.
The guests who did come complained of too-high barriers that prevented children from seeing some of the animals on display. Some of the animals were impossible to see at all: A group of aardvarks mysteriously disappeared, believed to have burrowed under their enclosure, far from view.
[. . .]
Throughout its more than 40 year history, officials charged with overseeing the 700-acre public zoo, have been exceedingly optimistic that putting a wide selection of the animal kingdom — especially newborns — on display would attract the kind of visitors needed to keep it running. But in all the time gates have been open, the Toronto Zoo, as it’s known now, has always operated at a loss, needing millions from the city each year to keep going.
Bad weather, declining spending on tourism and competing attractions have been the target of blame since Day One.
But with attendance rates falling — reaching an eight-year low last year even as zoos in Calgary, San Diego and New York have seen revenues climb — the Toronto Zoo is faced with an age-old problem: Adapt to survive. But how?
