Pueblo Zoo hopes new exhibit will solve budget deficit

The Pueblo Zoo is going all in on an exhibit that it hopes can fill in its budget gap.

Rebecca Palacio and her grandkids try to go to the zoo 10 times a year.

“It’s a way for me, and my grandkids to reunite and have a good time,” she said.

Even though she and her grandkids have a good time looking at the animals, the zoo has budget problems.

The zoo’s operations budget is experiencing a more than $100,000 deficit.

“Due to rising expenses, and continued budget cuts from the city and county, we are experiencing a six-figure budget deficit,” Director of Marketing and Communications Abigail Krause said.

The more than 80-year-old zoo set a personal record for attendance without opening a new exhibit this year, but that is still not enough.

A new exhibit will be opening at the zoo next year by bringing in African painted dogs and DeBrazza’s monkeys.

“We know from our visitors, from surveys that we have done and taken, that they love social interactive animals family-oriented animals,” Krause said.

The new exhibit is being funded by a capital campaign.

Krause said 70 percent of the funds have been reached so far and they need another $350,000 to reach their goal.

The capital campaign can’t be used to help with the operations deficit because the funds are used specifically for building new exhibits.

If the new exhibit isn’t successful, Krause said more cuts will have to be made, but she said zoo workers are confident the new exhibit will help with the budget problems.

“Attendance and revenue spikes in years that we open a new exhibit,” she said.

Palacio hopes this will come true so she and her grandkids can enjoy the zoo more in the future.

Workers hope to have the exhibit done next year.