Date: Fri 25-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Beardsley-Zoo-Dancho-Barnum

Full Text:

Where The Deer & The Antelope Really Do Play!~ CT's Only Zoo Is About To

Expand Its Horizons

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

BRIDGEPORT -- Connecticut's only zoo is experiencing some growing pains,

resulting in too many animals with not enough space for everyone to live

comfortably. So the Beardsley Zoo is about to expand its horizons, so to

speak.

Over the course of the next eight years, the zoo plans to spend approximately

$5 million in capital improvement projects, says zoo director Gregg Dancho.

"We're outgrowing what we have right now," Mr Dancho said recently. "We are

the only zoo in the state, so we feel we should be the best we possibly can

be. We are hoping to get more visitors to the zoo, and also to Bridgeport."

The animal population at the zoo is very close to capacity. Mr Dancho and the

zoo's board of directors would like to see the zoo expanded before animals

become uncomfortable with their living quarters.

During a recent walking tour of the zoo and its buildings, Mr Dancho explained

what the zoo has in its possession today, what it has already done to improve

its holdings, and what plans are in place to expand and improve.

The director has been at the zoo since 1975, when he first began volunteering

as an animal keeper. By 1980 he was working as a full-time zookeeper, and in

1983 became the zoo's director. Under Mr Dancho's direction, the zoo applied

for and received its professional accreditation in 1987 from the American Zoo

and Aquarium Association.

The Beardsley Zoological Gardens, the official name of the zoo, began to take

shape over 120 years ago. In 1878 James Beardsley, a wealthy cattle dealer,

donated more than 100 acres to the City of Bridgeport. Six years later the

city contracted noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, the same man

responsible for New York's Central Park, to create a design for the new

Beardsley Park.

Around this time, it was not unusual for one of Bridgeport's more famous

residents, Phineas T. Barnum, to be seen exercising his circus animals on the

city's streets. It was fairly common to find zebras or camels strolling

through Beardsley Park, and legend says this was what inspired parks

commissioner Wesley Hayes to start a campaign in 1920 for a city zoo to be

founded within Beardsley Park.

The Connecticut Zoological Society was founded in 1960 to support the zoo with

fundraising events, visitor services, public relations and membership

services. In May 1997, the State of Connecticut helped the society purchase

the zoo from the City of Bridgeport. The private society now runs the zoo with

local and state support.

At its highest population point, around the mid-1950s, the zoo was home to

over 1,000 animals. This was also during a time when zoos were simply homes

for unusual animals. Animals bred naturally. Conservation and special survival

plans had not yet entered the thinking of many zoo owners and directors.

Today the Beardsley Zoo is home to over 116 animals. Amphibians, birds,

mammals and reptiles all share living quarters on the grounds of the park.

Entry to the zoo is off a main corridor in Bridgeport -- Noble Avenue -- and

is very close to I-95 and Route 25. And yet, once inside the zoo's property,

the natural surroundings soften the intrusions of the traffic, noise and human

population outside the grounds. Some of the animals are no doubt aware that

there is a human existence outside their home, most likely through a stronger

sense of hearing than what humans possess. However, the zoo has managed to

become a calming place for families to visit and animals to live.

The Master Plan

For the past 15 years, Beardsley Zoo has exhibited primarily North and South

American species throughout its land holdings. Recent additions have included

the opening of the New World Tropics Building, which features a re-created

South American rain forest; the construction of an Animal Care Facility; the

addition of an historic carousel, housed in its own building which also

includes an attractive collection of 60 antique hand-carved carousel figures

from Pleasure Beach. These projects were all completed by the end of 1997.

The first project that was done, over a decade ago, was a complete repaving of

the parking lot, the redesigning of the main entryway and the installation of

a perimeter fence. This was the first project headed by Mr Dancho just after

he took over his directorship.

"We eliminated car traffic immediately," he said a few weeks ago. "That sounds

like it would make sense, but it took a lot of getting used to. Many were

using [the zoo] as a drive-through, to avoid the traffic light on Noble

Avenue."

The ten-year master plan divides the zoo into two primary sections: Victorian

Gardens and an Animal Conservation Center. New exhibits will be devoted to

animals from the Asian Plateau and Arctic tundra.

The Victorian Gardens area is already undergoing its restoration and

expansion. Central to the gardens is the zoo's greenhouse. Built in 1878, it

is the zoo's oldest structure.

Recently the G.E. Elfin Society was at the zoo for a few days, putting in new

pathways and a gazebo. Eventually, there will be flower beds and sculpture

added to the lawn area immediately surrounding the greenhouse.

Inside, members of the Bridgeport Men's Garden Club have been volunteering for

the past ten years to maintain the greenhouse and the thousands of plants that

grow inside it.

One of the ideas the zoo has in mind for the greenhouse and its newly

landscaped area is to lure newlyweds to the zoo for wedding photos, a popular

trend in the past that has died down in recent years. Mr Dancho's parents and

his wife's parents all had their wedding photography done at the zoo.

"We are working at keeping the gardens a focal point of this organization," Mr

Dancho pointed out. "We're going back to the `gardens' aspect of our name."

The old garden supply storage building, behind the greenhouse, has been

transformed into a classroom facility. The building is generally open during

the weekends, with classes and programs led by the zoo's docents.

Survival Of The Species

Like many zoos across the country today, Beardsley Zoo participates in the

Species Survival Plan. As mentioned earlier, modern zoos and aquariums have

changed dramatically from their early counterparts. The Beardsley Zoo is very

much a modern zoo: the facility is not interested in having the largest

collection of animals in the country, but is instead more concerned with

animal conservation.

The Species Survival Plan (SSP) is a long-term strategy developed by the

American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA) to try to

ensure the survival of certain endangered species. Zoological institutions now

share the responsibility for the management of animals in this nationwide

plan. Member institutions, while responsible for the daily upbringing of an

animal, send particular animals where they are needed to do the most good in

contributing to the long-term plan.

With 210,000 visitors annually, The Beardsley Zoo is the fifth-most visited

tourist attraction in the state. In her new book The Connecticut Guide ,

author Amy Ziffer calls it "intimate in size and very family-oriented, making

it ideal for an outing with young children. Zoo director Greg Dancho suggests

planning on at least two hours for a full tour of the zoo.