ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601290056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
EXPLORE PARK and Mill Mountain Zoo once hoped breeding endangered red wolves would be the start of a nationally recognized program. Now, faced with budget realities, they've ended it.
Budget cuts have ended a red wolf breeding program at Explore Park, which in its three-year life added four specimens to the threatened population.
Mill Mountain Zoo, a partner in the project, paid the program's annual cost of $20,000 the past two years. The zoo board, the Blue Ridge Zoological Society of Virginia Inc., cut off funds Oct. 31, at the end of the last budget cycle.
There was no announcement by either Explore Park or the zoo that the program was ending, despite enthusiastic efforts by both organizations to publicize its launch several years ago.
Red wolves were to be a test run for the breeding program, after which Explore and zoo leaders had a long wish list of possible additional creatures, from the black-footed ferret and Florida panther to the Mexican gray wolf and Virginia big-eared bat.
They even christened their endeavor the "American Center for Rare and Endangered Species," and envisioned it as a magnet for contributions from across the country.
Indeed, when the red wolf program started in 1991, it attracted donations of $5,000 each from Ford Motor Co. and Chevron Corp. and $10,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
A breeding facility - closed to the general public - was set up on a farm Explore owns on Rutrough Road in eastern Roanoke County, and the first wolves arrived in 1992. Scott and Laurie Spangler divided their time working as the wolves' caretakers, for which they were paid by the zoo, and serving on the interpretive staff at Explore Park, for which they received free housing at the farm.
But efforts to raise money for the wolves' care - by holding fund raisers and applying for grants - failed. When the seed money ran out, the zoo began paying for their food and related costs such as veterinary care, security and insurance.
Now, program leaders have found new homes for all but two of the six wolves, said Beth Poff, executive director of Mill Mountain Zoo, on Friday. Scott and Laurie Spangler have jobs at Mill Mountain Zoo as maintenance worker and conservation coordinator, respectively.
Poff said she had planned to announce that the program had run out of money once all the animals had been moved.
"It was a program we were excited about. We were really glad to see it going. We were disappointed we had to cut back," Poff said. "Even though it is an animal [program] and conservation work, sometimes you have to make a business decision at the same time. We just felt with the resources available to us, we had to concentrate on zoo operations."
The zoo atop Mill Mountain has a budget of $400,000. Sixty percent comes from admissions, concessions and other sales. The remainder comes equally from membership programs and fund raising.
Mill Mountain Zoo is home to three longer-running endangered animal breeding programs involving the golden lion tamarin, red panda and white-naped crane.
The wolf breeding was the focus of a 1991 agreement to tap the zoo's expertise and Explore Park's land. Zoo leaders agreed to run Explore's animal exhibits if Explore provided land for breeding. The red-wolf program was their first joint effort.
A breeding pair arrived in 1992, and five pups were born in May 1994. One pup and one male adult died, leaving six, of which four have been relocated to North Carolina State Zoo in Asheboro. The death of the pup, in December, was previously undisclosed. Both deaths were the result of a condition known as gastric torsion, a twisting of the intestines.
Explore Park Executive Director Rupert Cutler, in an earlier role as park environmental director, had said the red-wolf breeding would validate Explore Park's environmental credentials and enhance the legitimacy of the park concept even before it opened its doors in 1994. Cutler could not be reached for comment on the dismantling of the program.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. The wolves were kept in thisby CNBenclosure. The two remaining animals hid in their houses when the
photographer arrived.