Zoo Atlanta, which earns most of its operating expenses from ticket sales and memberships, plans on a significant boost each spring from increased visitation.
This year the COVID-19 crisis shut down that money-making season, and has left the zoo with an estimated $7.6 million in losses.
The zoo has struggled to make up the losses with layoffs furloughs and salary reductions. The 102 part-time employees and the 43 seasonal employees have been temporarily laid-off, according to zoo spokesperson Rachel Davis.
The zoo also briefly furloughed 15 full-time employees and laid off 50 full-timers during the first two weeks in April, Davis said.
Due to a successful application for assistance through the CARES Act, the zoo received “forgiveable loans” that allowed the full-timers to be rehired Monday, Davis said.
According to WSB-TV, the Paycheck Protection Program loans will amount to $2.4 million.
The zoo’s president and CEO Raymond King told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that the organization has worked to reduce its losses by by cutting the salaries of senior executives by 25%.
King will also forfeit his $364,000 salary indefinitely, Davis said.
The zoo has kept its 85 animal care employees working in two shifts to ensure the health of the 1,000 animals at the attraction.
While humans must protect themselves from contagion, the zoo recently learned that they must protect animals as well.
At the Bronx Zoo in New York the staff recently announced that a Malayan tiger had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that the tiger had apparently contracted the disease from one of its keepers.
It was the first known case of human-to-animal transmission.
In reaction, the animal care team at Zoo Atlanta began using Personal Protective Equipment, including masks and gloves, when tending to the tigers, lions and the leopard at the zoo.
The zoo hopes to open by the end of May in a limited form. The zoo is sponsoring a fund-raising challenge to help cover some of the shortfall.
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