[URBAN NOTE] "Will ‘strong swell of support’ save Bowmanville zoo?"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Noor Javed reports on the potential for the Bowmanville Zoo, one of the oldest in Canada, to survive the summer. Or not, as the case may be.

A sudden burst in attendance and outpouring of support for the Bowmanville zoo is sparking hopes that the embattled facility may be able stay open after all.

The privately owned zoo, which is home to a number of exotic animals including lions, lemurs and tigers, announced last month that it was shutting down at the end of the 2016 season.

Zoo officials said allegations made by animal rights groups, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), around the mistreatment of animals at the hands of the former director, had kept crowds away and attendance was down by more than 65 per cent from the previous year.

But since the June announcement, the zoo has seen a “strong swell of support from the community” and attendance is now only down “about 25 per cent from prior years” said spokesman Angus Carroll.

“I can tell you that attendance is up in recent days and that is great,” said Carroll. “Nevertheless, we are not out of the woods. Attendance is still below last year and not where it needs to be make the zoo viable,” he said.