[ The Topeka Zoo has faced a tangled web of woes... ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 20, 2002 by Mike Hall Capital-Journal

The Topeka Zoo has faced a tangled web of woes, leaving the city to wonder if getting accreditation is worth the trouble

It's a out

Topeka Zoo elephant handler Dawn Engelhaupt tossed fruit into the open mouth of Tembo, an African elephant, during training at the zoo.

Dennis Maxim, animal care manager at the Topeka Zoo, has to share his cramped office with a mainframe server, at left, that connects the zoo to the city's computer department. The administration offices at the zoo have been housed in a temporary building since 1966.

Sunda, an Asian elephant, left, and Tembo, an African elephant, right, were at the center of the zoo's accreditation problems in 2000.

See ZOO, page 4E

Zoo: Wait for accreditation

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Zoo

1Go online to hear Mike Coker discuss recent problems at the zoo and his

plans for improving the facility.

It's a jungle out there

By Mike Hall

The Capital-Journal

--- where on the west side of town, the Topeka Zoo keeps getting tangled up with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and a host of other problems.

For more than five years, controversy has surrounded the zoo, starting with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1997. Things seemed to have snowballed since then, with one issue after another.

And when the AZA canceled the zoo's accreditation last September, it was another stunning slap. But some Topeka officials are wondering if the AZA is even worth worrying about.

Dealing with the AZA has become so frustrating, one Topeka city official recently suggested not even attempting to get the zoo's accreditation back.

In fact, the pressure to achieve the accreditation is cited by some city officials as a factor in the embarrassing incident last fall when a rare Asian stork escaped. The embarrassment came when Mike Coker, acting zoo director, denied a rumor that the painted Asian stork had escaped from the zoo and had not returned. He later acknowledged that his statement was misleading and apologized.

It was another piece of disastrous public relations for the zoo. But Topeka Mayor Butch Felker doesn't believe the public has changed its belief in the merits of the zoo.

And not every organization has problems with the zoo.

The other entity that oversees operation of the zoo, the Agriculture Department, now seems to be satisfied with the zoo's operation, after coming down hard in 1997 over some deficiencies found there.

Fame found

For years, the zoo enjoyed a successful operation and good public image --- even billing itself as "The World Famous Topeka Zoo."

When Gary Clarke resigned in 1989 after 26 years as zoo director, everything seemed fine.

Assistant zoo director Mike LaRue ran it for six months as an acting director until Dr. Hugh Quinn was hired as the new director. Quinn stayed for three years, then resigned to take a job as general curator for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Again, LaRue was named acting director.

This time, though, after considering applicants from all over the country, Mayor Butch Felker named LaRue as the new director. That was in November 1993.

So far, so good.

The first hint the public had that there might be any problems at the zoo was in December 1997. The USDA had initiated an investigation into allegations of shortcomings at the zoo, lodged by some former zoo employees. One unnamed city official was quoted as saying the "personnel problems" at the zoo included insubordination by some animal keepers who refused to abide by new ways of handling the elephants.

The following August, LaRue resigned, citing "a personal matter" and saying it had nothing to do with the USDA investigation.

Three months later, LaRue took the unusual step of releasing a 560- page binder full of documents, some confidential in nature. He said the documents would explain what he went through in trying to manage the zoo.

He contended, among other things, that:

- Former employees plotted to discredit him and the zoo.

- A USDA investigator was overzealous in looking for deficiencies at the zoo.

- The city's personnel department wouldn't let him fire an employee with well-documented failings.

- The city allowed the zoo's facilities to fall into disrepair by denying adequate funding.

Meanwhile, the city entered into an agreement with the USDA to hire a consultant, approved by the USDA, to develop a plan for addressing the deficiencies.

In January 1999, the USDA declared it was satisfied with improvements made at the zoo and plans for further improvements. Plans included commitments to hire an additional animal keeper, provide better staff training, create better definitions of staff duties and improve the maintenance of its facilities. Earlier threats of fines or revocation of the zoo's license were withdrawn.

Not good for the gander

But what was good enough for the USDA didn't seem to be good enough for the AZA.

The zoo's latest five-year AZA accreditation was due for renewal in September 1999. In April that year, the city had hired David Mask, director of the I FISH 2000 program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as the new zoo director. Because the AZA requires a zoo to have had a permanent director for a minimum of six months, the AZA granted a one-year extension on the zoo's accreditation in September 1999.