Oakland Zoo losing $2 million a month, at risk of closing for good, officials say [View all]
The Oakland Zoo, which has been shuttered since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak, is losing $2 million a month and may have to shut down permanently unless it is allowed to reopen as an “outdoor museum,” officials said Wednesday.
Nik Dehejia, executive vice president of the zoo, told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that the 100-acre zoo in the Oakland hills is experiencing “financial distress” due to a lack of visitors.
“We are at risk of closure,” he said, although a date for a permanent shutdown was not immediately known.
Zoo president Joel Parrott said emergency federal funds have run out and the zoo is now surviving on a $3 million reserve fund, which will be gone in months. The zoo is asking to be classified as an outdoor museum similar to regional parks or botanical gardens, which have been allowed to reopen, rather than as a restaurant or indoor business, which have not.
LINK (probably paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Coronavirus-Oakland-Zoo-losing-2-million-a-15380577.php
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