If you think it’s a hassle keeping your dog licensed with the city, try keeping an entire zoo licensed. That’s what coordinators at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo are breathing a collective sigh of relief over, after successfully renewing the highly coveted accreditation. Zoo director Ted Fox says the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA, looks at everything from animal welfare and nutrition to visitor experience and education, and there’s increasing expectations to conduct research that can help animals in the range countries.
“For example, our elephant program. We're scrutinized pretty frequently about our elephant program and why we would have elephants," Fox said. "But it's so important and we hear from the field all the time, from Asia and Africa, that the information and the work we're doing here is ultimately helping the elephants in the wild. And that's a huge responsibility.”
Fox says the zoo is involved with more than a dozen elephant behavioral, nutrition, or vaccine studies, all under the AZA's oversight. He says meeting their changing and increasing expectations for the five-year approval is challenging.
“It's hard to stay accredited, but we're so committed to doing that for not only the animals here, the ones in the wild and our community," Fox said. "We love being a source for all the students, all the school groups that come here, the college folks that want to come do research here. We want to be that credible, transparent resource for animals and everything about animals.”
With the AZA’s accreditation, Fox says the Rosamond Gifford Zoo has a better chance at securing grants, donations, and foundation support. He says he’s grateful to his dedicated staff for providing the highest quality care for animals and maintaining a memorable visitor experience.
