The Oakland Zoo was in dire financial straits when the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close for four months last summer.
Officials are hoping to better weather this current closure with an eye towards reopening in the New Year. The Oakland Zoo was one of the last in the state to be granted permission to reopen.
With an operating budget of $1.3 million a month, the last closure forced the zoo to draw down its rainy day fund to the point officials could count on one hand how many months they had left to survive. As Alameda County aligns itself with California's stricter stay-at-home order, 65% of the paired down staff still has to come in to care for the animals and guard them at night so no one gets in.
"What’s really different this time is the duration," said Dr Joel Parrot, Oakland Zoo President and CEO. "We have enough financial reserves to talk about weeks of closure, but if we talk about months of closure…right now, we want to do our part to help support the governor and the public health workers."
The new, nighttime animal light displays that were open briefly open around Thanksgiving are not holiday themed, so they can be reopened and extended once the zoo is back in operation.
The last time the zoo was closed for four months, the macaws and monkeys were acting up due to a lack of human interaction.
The San Francisco Zoo, which was also shuttered for months at the start of the pandemic, is also closed for the length of the current stay-at-home order.