The Sedgwick County Zoo is marking a major milestone in the process of building its new elephant exhibit.
The zoo completed its $10.6 million fundraising campaign this week. KMUW’s Deborah Shaar reports...
The Sedgwick County Zoological Society says more than 700 donors contributed to the “Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley” exhibit, with gifts ranging from a single dollar up to $1 million. Because the zoo is a public-private partnership, the Sedgwick County Commission paid half of the exhibit’s $10.6 million cost last fall. The Zoological Society secured the rest.
Zoo director Mark Reed says within the zoo industry, this partnership is considered a successful model.
“If we didn’t have this public-private partnership and this was just a county zoo, we would probably be 40 percent of what we are right now," Reed says. "There’s not another community our size that has a zoo this caliber.”
The Zoological Society says the county commission’s commitment to a five-year financial agreement to fund the personnel for this exhibit laid the foundation to be able to complete the campaign by giving donors the assurance needed that the animal keepers would be provided.
County commissioners are expected to decide by September 1 if they will continue that five-year financial agreement or replace it with a yearly contract.
The county owns the zoo land and the buildings and pays for employee salaries.
The new elephant exhibit is expected to open Memorial Day weekend next year.
