Animal attraction

By Steve Kanigher

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 5:05 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

Jan. 31 - Feb. 1, 2004

A proposal to build a major zoo in Las Vegas has suddenly appeared on the horizon, but the plan must clear many hurdles in order to succeed.

The first hurdle may be the toughest: determining the question of whether the valley should even have a new zoo. That's because it will pit proponents who argue that zoos are educational and good family attractions against animal rights activists who don't think wild animals should be confined or that tourists would visit a local zoo.

Even if there is widespread support for a new zoo, the questions of financing, location, the species to be included and their fate if the zoo fails all need to be resolved, which will be no easy task.

The Nevada Zoological Society, a nonprofit organization formed in 2002 by seven Las Vegas businessmen, most with small children, believes the time has come for Las Vegas to have a large state-of-the-art zoo to give residents a greater sense of community.

"We feel it would be a great family amenity for Las Vegas and a great place for education," society president Dean Willmore, a Las Vegas real estate broker, said. "Several locations for a zoo ought to be studied and the public should be polled to see which location would be most highly attended.

"A zoo would create a cultural destination for Las Vegas. Las Vegas has a tremendous opportunity, because of the number of visitors we have, to have a zoo that's successful."

Those arguments won't wash with Las Vegas animal rights activist Linda Faso, who called the prospect of a major zoo in the valley "a bad idea."

"It's going to be a huge money pit that will need to continue to be fed," Faso said. "Zoos around the country are in trouble.

"People aren't going to come here to look for a zoo that's off the Strip. If families come here in the summertime when kids are out of school, it will be too hot to go to a zoo. And we're already saturated with animals on the Strip so people don't have to leave the Strip to entertain their kids."

The differences of opinion between proponents and opponents is about to get an airing because of a proposal before the Las Vegas City Council to build a first-class zoo at Floyd Lamb State Park, 20 miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip.

The proposal is the brainchild of Las Vegas residents Edward and Mona Sher, who have offered to spend up to $2 million of their own money on preliminary planning, including a feasibility study that they hope to complete by early May. The couple is negotiating with a company to conduct that study.

Sher made his money as a real estate developer in California and then became a theatrical manager and television producer in Las Vegas, where he has lived for the past 11 years ago. He currently manages singer Dennis Bono, who performs at Sam's Town.

It was on a trip to the San Diego Zoo last year that the Shers came up with the idea of a first-class zoo in Las Vegas.

"I went to the San Diego Zoo and thought, 'Why shouldn't Las Vegas have something like this?" Sher said. "My wife and I have no children but we've been animal lovers all our life."

What Sher finds most appealing about zoos is the way they connect with children.

"A lot of families that move to Las Vegas don't like to frequent the Strip and don't like to go to casinos," Sher said. "My idea is to do something for the locals."

The Shers want a zoo that would take up at least 100 acres -- the size of the San Diego Zoo -- and that would feature not only large exotic species but also contain an animal training center for children and a theater where visitors would watch wild animals from Australia to Africa in real time on satellite feeds.

If Sher has his way, no taxpayer money would be spent to build or operate the zoo. Instead, he is proposing to cover the costs through an estimated $100 million in revenue bonds that would be repaid through admission fees and donations to the zoo.

The new Strip monorail that is set to open in March is an example of a major project that is being funded by revenue bonds. Sher's idea is that if the zoo somehow fails, the financial burden would rest on the shoulders of the individual and institutional bond investors.

"We don't want to do this project if it will be a financial burden to Las Vegas," Sher said. "We don't want the city or its residents to take on a financial liability. If the city doesn't want a zoo, I will go along with that."

The Shers say their zoo proposal would help solve a vexing problem: the state would like to return Floyd Lamb State Park to the city but the city has balked because of the annual maintenance costs, which run close to $370,000. The Shers' solution is to have the zoo's revenues pay for the park's maintenance.

The city once owned the park but when it became too expensive to maintain, it was given to the state in 1977. One of the amenities at the park was a small zoo that eventually closed down.

The developed portion of the park, which is managed by the Nevada Division of State Parks, is about 80 acres. There are picnic areas, four ponds, scenic paths and facilities for volleyball and horseshoes. Fossils dating back 13,000 years that have been found in the park are part of the area's rich history.

The developed portion of the park is surrounded by 600 undeveloped acres that are also owned by the state and managed by the parks division. At one time 250 acres of that land south of the developed park was set aside for another zoo, but that particular designation no longer exists.

The parks division also has a lease for an additional 1,200 acres of undeveloped land owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management that is north and east of the 680 acres managed by the parks division.

Last year the Nevada Legislature passed a bill permitting the park to be transferred back to the city as long as "passive" recreational activities were maintained there.

"I've talked to some of the people involved in that legislation and they believe that, yes, it can be used for a zoo," David Morrow, state parks administrator, said.

If a zoo is approved for the park, it would have to be located somewhere within the 600 acres of undeveloped park land or within the BLM land. If the state transfers the park to the city, Morrow said the city would have to work out its own lease agreement with the BLM if it wanted to retain the right to have recreational uses on the 1,200 acres of federal land.

The purpose of the feasibility study will be to examine numerous details. These will include the types of animals to be displayed, the number of visitors and amount of revenue the zoo could hope to generate, and the impact desert temperatures will have on the animals and the visitors.

Sher has a concept of what he wants the zoo to be. His plan is to get the animals from other zoos.

"We're not going to go to Africa to get an elephant," Sher said. "We won't take animals out of the wild. There are so many zoos that want to get rid of animals."

To attract tourists, Sher is trying to determine the feasibility of running shuttles between the zoo and Strip resorts.

The study would be reviewed by people who underwrite revenue bonds to determine if the project is worthy of that type of financing.

Sher's goal is to present the feasibility study to the city in May. Las Vegas Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said that, assuming the city agreed to take the park back from the state, it could take three to six months for the zoo proposal to go through the approval process. The length of time would be dependent in part on the number of public hearings to be scheduled.

"It would be a multi-departmental review," Houchens said. "Planning, the city manager's office, finance and leisure services would all be involved."

Under a best-case scenario, Sher hopes to break ground this fall and then take no more than two years to build the zoo, with a likely opening by early 2007.

Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack, whose district includes the park, has shown enthusiasm for the proposal and has encouraged his council colleagues to give it serious thought.

"A lot of zoos are not financially feasible because they are too broad in scope, but this won't be a zoo that has every animal," Mack said. "We've heard people who say they don't want crazy animals brought in. I want to make sure the citizens have input on this."

To help recruit a zoo staff and determine which species would be suitable, Sher has enlisted the services of Canadian businessman Alex Nagy, who has owned the for-profit Bowmanville Zoo outside Toronto since 1987.

The Bowmanville Zoo, which bills itself as the oldest privately owned zoo in North America, has more than 300 exotic animals. Some of the animals have appeared in motion pictures such as "The Ghost and the Darkness," a 1996 film starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, and "The Thirteenth Warrior," which was released in 1999 and starred Antonio Banderas.

Canadian animal rights activists have deplored this use of the animals in movies and television and for live performances. The criticism extends to allegations that Nagy's partner, animal trainer Michael Hackenberger, has mistreated his elephants by using electric prods and other methods of dominance-based training.

The Canadian animal welfare agency that operates in the Ontario province where Bowmanville is located has investigated the allegations but hasn't taken any action against Hackenberger or the zoo. Sher, who met Nagy on a Hawaiian vacation several years ago, said he never believed the allegations were true.

"They're totally false," Sher said. "Mr. Nagy is a softy and wouldn't put up with that."

Based in part on the allegations of animal abuse at the Bowmanville Zoo, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Norfolk, Va., wrote a letter to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in December urging him not to support the Shers' zoo proposal.

"Las Vegas can barely support its existing zoo," Lisa Wathne, PETA's captive exotic animal specialist, wrote. "There is no reason to expect that another zoo would fare any better."

The seven-member Nevada Zoological Society, though, would like to work with the Shers on their proposal, Willmore said.

"We think it's great that someone is taking an interest in developing a zoo in Las Vegas," Willmore said.

Sher insists that his intentions are honorable and that he is not out to make money with his zoo proposal.

"We think Las Vegas deserves a class A zoo," Sher said. "We don't want to see an animal standing around in a cage. We want to do more of an interactive zoo. We're not out to exploit animals and we won't have animals that can't handle the desert."

Nevada is one of only six states -- including Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming -- that do not have a zoo accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association of Silver Spring, Md. Every major zoo in the country is a member. Nevada's only accredited member is the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, an aquarium.

The valley does have a nonprofit zoo, the Southern Nevada Zoological Botanical Park, which has operated on three acres at 1775 N. Rancho Drive since 1980. But because it is small and isn't accredited by the zoo association, critics of the zoological park have written it off as if it did not exist.

Park director Pat Dingle begs to differ and said it's a waste of time for the city to consider a larger zoo. Dingle touts his working relationship with local schools. He also has managed to stay open by catering mostly to area residents. With 50,000 to 60,000 visitors annually, at least 90 percent of those individuals are locals.

"Tourists won't come to Las Vegas to see a zoo," Dingle said. "For tourists, they already have attractions like the Secret Garden at The Mirage and the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. When you say 'San Diego,' you think zoo. When you say 'Las Vegas,' you think gaming and nightlife.

"And residents don't go out in large numbers if it's over 100 degrees or under 50 degrees."

Dingle's zoo is home to 90 species and about 200 animals, including the only seven Barbary apes in the United States. There are African lions, chimpanzees, emus and golden eagles. He has animals on loan from the San Diego Zoo, including rare exotic cats from Turkmenistan. Within 90 days, he is expecting to receive from the San Diego Zoo two fossas, which are the largest predators from the island of Madagascar.

The zoo, which is open daily, takes one to two hours to see comfortably. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 2 through 12 and $5 for seniors.

"My position, which is self-serving, is that we need more community support for the existing zoo, rather than stretch city resources," Dingle said.

Dingle at one time contemplated a major zoological park when he leased the 250 acres of state-owned land just south of the developed portion of Floyd Lamb State Park in the 1980s. He wanted not only a zoo, but museums and performing art centers, all independently operated.

The goal was to develop a cultural center for Las Vegas, but the project never got off the ground because he couldn't get the funding. When he later defaulted on a community development block grant loan from the city to expand his existing zoo -- a situation he blamed on council politics that blocked his expansion plans -- he made a deal with the city to get out of the loan.

In exchange, the city took over Dingle's lease for the 250 acres south of the state park in 1998. The city eventually terminated the lease agreement with the state and the zoo designation for that land no longer exists. That's why a new zoo wouldn't have to be placed in the location where Dingle had his lease.

Jonathan Kraft also had a dream to build an exotic animal sanctuary locally. The founder of the nonprofit Keepers of the Wild ran a sanctuary for 13 years in the 4000 block of Dewey Drive. He failed in his efforts to find a larger location in Southern Nevada in order to relieve his overcrowded facility.

So in 2000, Kraft took his operation to White Hills, Ariz., where he is in the process of completing the first phase of a much larger sanctuary 27 miles south of Hoover Dam.

"I tried to get an animal park in Las Vegas for a number of years," Kraft said. "I found that the vast majority of people don't want wild animals in their backyard."

When informed that a zoo proposal has been pitched to the Las Vegas City Council, Kraft said of the city: "I don't understand why they don't get me involved. There's no reason I can't run two facilities: one in Las Vegas and one in Arizona."

Whether a major zoo would succeed in Las Vegas is a matter of conjecture. Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM MIRAGE, which has animal exhibits at some of its resorts, said the proposal before the city council was at least worthy of consideration.

"Something like this sounds like it would be, first and foremost, good for the community," Feldman said. "We'll have to see what the study shows and what the final costs would be, but our community would certainly benefit from a zoo.

"As for tourists, one needs to remember that the levels of investment to compete in the tourism sector of our economy are significantly higher than the residential sector. It may be better to establish something for locals first and hope to grow it over time into something tourists would enjoy."

Whether tourists would be attracted to an off-the-Strip zoo depends on the quality of the venue, Erika Yowell, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said.

"People visit Hoover Dam quite frequently and that's 30 miles away," Yowell said. "The gaming industry recognizes clearly that having just casino gaming is not enough of a reason to come to Las Vegas. If people wanted to just gamble, they'd stay closer to home."

As for local school children, Agustin Orci, the Clark County School District's deputy superintendent for instruction, said a zoo would have educational value "if it provided for the study of animals and habitats." There would be added value for children who otherwise would not have the means to see animals in person.

"Anytime we have an opportunity to provide live opportunities for the kids, it's to their benefit," Orci said. "You provide exposure to kids and they can write about it."

On the flip side, animal rights activists argue that American zoos are experiencing rough financial times coupled with declining attendance. PETA reported the following examples:

* In December, the Detroit Zoo announced it would close on Mondays and Tuesdays through March because of $1 million in lost state revenue. The Kansas City Zoo said it would lay off 19 employees. The San Diego Zoo cut 34 jobs.

* In November, the Baltimore Zoo slashed 20 jobs and got rid of 400 reptiles, birds and amphibians.

* As of August, attendance at the National Zoo in Washington was down 30 percent for the year.

The zoo association said that total attendance at its 137 member zoos, 99.7 million in 2002, was down 3 percent over the prior year. Association spokeswoman Alison Stevenson said blame could be placed on a soft tourism market in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Bad weather and lack of spending on new exhibits are other reasons given for declining attendance by zoo proponents. And in the case of city-run zoos, it could be that money is shifting to other municipal priorities.

But Steve Wylie, an honorary member of the Nevada Zoological Society who is director of animal and education programs at the Kansas City (Mo.) Zoo, said the perceived notion by animal rights activists that zoos are becoming unpopular is untrue.

"To make a blanket statement that people aren't going to zoos anymore is erroneous," Wylie said. "As the economy goes back up zoo attendance will pick up."

Still, Debbie Leahy, PETA's director of captive animal and entertainment issues, wasn't sold on that reasoning.

"People are losing interest in looking at animals in cages," Leahy said. "We now have access to the Discovery Channel and the Internet and people can learn about these animals in their natural habitat. When you go to a zoo, you see a sharp contrast from that.

"If zoos only took rescued animals, we're all for that. If they were providing exceptional care and weren't breeding, we'd support that."

Animal rights activists say breeding is an integral part of many zoos and that unwanted animals are often sent to circuses.

"Circuses are well known for mistreating animals," Leahy said. "The animals are beaten to perform."

Zoo proponents say that accusations of animal abuse by zookeepers are greatly exaggerated. And Wylie, who is past president of the national zoo association, said the image of zoos as facilities that simply warehouse animals in cages is something that hasn't existed in the United States on a grand scale since the 1970s. Instead, zoos have relied more on open-air exhibits where the animals have space to both roam and hide.

"The wild is disappearing and zoos have a role in conservation," Wylie said. "Zoos are putting money into 'back to nature' programs because the third world countries aren't doing that.

"The educational programs at zoos have evolved over the past 20 years. People will pick up something they didn't know before they leave the park."

It is easy to make the assumption that animals from cold climates such as polar bears would not be suitable for the hot desert climate. But zoology expert Robert Winokur, an associate professor of biology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said any animal could survive in a local zoo if the right amount of money is spent.

In the case of a polar bear, that would require expensive refrigeration and water-cooling systems.

"The penguin display in San Diego is in an air-conditioned building with cool water," Winokur said.

Still, some animals are much easier to maintain than others.

"It's easier to manage a North American wolf if you have a run for it than it is to manage some special lemur that requires a lot of care," Winokur said.

Not all zoos specialize in exotic animals that must be imported. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Ariz., which opened in 1952, has more than 200 animals that are indigenous to Arizona and 400 native plants that can be viewed along two miles of trails. Visitors are treated to Gila monsters, prairie dogs and mountain lions, all in their natural habitat.

"What I like about it is that it's clearly an educational experience," Winokur said. "Everything is labeled and there is a lot of ecology. It's set up in a way where you can't miss the animals."

There are several advantages to running a zoo with indigenous animals as opposed to a facility that specializes in exotic species.

"Economically, it's less expensive than an exotic animal zoo for obvious reasons," Rick Brusca, Arizona-Sonora's executive director of programs, said.

"You don't have to import the animals and go through quarantine procedures and have to learn how to feed them. You don't have to deal with a lot of federal and international issues. You avoid all that complicated stuff. We probably hold 50 federal, state and local permits so you can imagine what an exotic animal zoo has to do."

The Arizona-Sonora zoo also has found it easy to connect with local residents, one reason its attendance is back to where it was before the terrorist attacks.

"People here see coyotes regularly but they don't always get to see bobcats and mountain lions," Brusca said. "They can come here and relate to their own backyard. Every other zoo I know handles exotics so we can promote ourselves in ways other zoos can't."

Building an indigenous species zoo would be far more problematic in Las Vegas because of a Nevada law that prohibits the capture of indigenous animals for public display.

There are some rare exceptions to the law. A notable example is a special scientific collection/education permit held by the federal government in its management of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. That is why it is legal for the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center to display the popular indigenous dessert tortoise, "Mojave Max," whose annual emergence from hibernation is used to measure the start of spring.

But Geoff Schneider, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said commercial displays of indigenous species, even by nonprofit organizations, could run into legal roadblocks, subject to interpretation from the attorney general's office.

The law was enacted based in part on the way certain wild animals were treated outside of Southern Nevada.

"A lot of it reflects back to the days when people caught mountain lions and chained them to the front of stores to put them on display," Schneider said.