Zoo requesting $33 million bond

Utah's Hogle Zoo is hoping to upgrade the conditions of its animal habitats. However, it is unable to do so without a $33 million bond. In November, the Zoo hopes that Salt Lake County voters will choose 'Yes' on Proposition 2, which would authorize the bond.

"Its time to upgrade. Some of these exhibits are over 40 years old," Renew the Zoo spokesperson Maura Carabello said.

If passed, the 33 million dollars bond would be issued on the condition that the Zoo first raise $11 million in private funding to supplement the public funding debt.

This would cost the average County household 39 cents per month, according to the Zoo's Web site.

If the proposal passes, the first thing that would be built is an animal care center, which would be finished by November/December of 2009.

The plan also includes adding two news exhibits. The Arctic Exhibit would include bringing Polar Bears, wolves and seals back to the zoo. The other exhibit would be phase one of the African Savannah. This will be a habitat for giraffes, rhinos, zebras and other animals found in Africa.

The Arctic exhibit is a priority for the Zoo because wilderness habitats are becoming more endangered due to Global Warming. Polar Bears are endangered in their natural environment. This exhibit is part of the Zoo's mission of conservation.

The Zoo needs the public bond money to make the needed renovations.

"When you're talking about massive capital improvement, non-profit institutions just can't. It would take 30-40 years of stock piling this revenue," Carabello said.

The Bond money would not be used to operate the Zoo. The new exhibits are expensive to build, but are expected to last for decades. This is a once-in-a-generation improvement. If authorized, the Bond money is expected to be paid off in 20 years.

The Zoo is an accredited member of the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums until September of 2009. The accreditation is given to only ten percent of the zoos and aquariums in the nation. AZA holds high standards its members. Hogle Zoo puts an emphasis on education and conservation, making it an educational zoo facility, differing it from wildlife preserve.

Hogle Zoo wants to put animals in a more humane condition that is more like their natural environment. They would like to make their habitats more natural and less like an exhibit.

Those interested in the supporting the bond proposal can find information at www.hoglezoo.org, and then click on the 'Renew the Zoo' icon on the left-hand side of the page.

"It's a rare fundamental infrastructure upgrade and the Zoo is contributing a lot of private money towards the campaign. But they need that extra little public bump to get to that level of the capital stability," Carabello said.