Zoo Atlanta Hit Hard By Coronavirus Pandemic

ATLANTA, GA — Zoo Atlanta is expected to lose about $8 million in revenue this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“So we laid off about half of our full-time staff, laid off all our part-time and seasonal staff,” zoo President and CEO Raymond King tells WSB. “I suspended my salary.”

He said the senior team also took a 25 percent pay cut.

The Zoo Atlanta Emergency Support Fund has been created for those who’d like to help. According to the website, “a longtime friend of the zoo has issued a $100,000 matching gift challenge.” The zoo is looking for the community to help it meet the challenge and claim the gift. Between now and GivingTuesdayNow on May 5, or until it hits $100,000, people can double the impact of their gift.

An expense breakdown on the site details how much a day it costs to take care of the animals. For example, a single flamingo is $2.25, a lion is $152 and a panda is $231.

Although Zoo Atlanta qualifies for 2.4 million in federal dollars in the CARES Act, it needs even more, King said. The funding will help keep the staff working for now, but it won’t last forever.

King said he’s staying positive and believing that the zoo will be able to open again with maybe new limitations such as crowd limits.

“The optimist in me still thinks we’ll be open by the end of May in some limited form,” King said. “We’re making sure we plan for a phased reopening.”