Cinderella of the Southwest: The Phoenix Zoo Comes of Age

In the Phoenix Zoo's butte-framed setting in Papago Park, desert bighorn sheep reclaim a rocky precipice that once was part of the species' natural range. (INSET) Zoo Director James C. Savoy pauses at one of the facility's newer exhibits, the African Veldt, which houses twelve species of savannah animals in its 4.5 acres.For many of us, the presence of live wild animals stirs a primal center that all the entertainment gadgetry of modern life cannot reach. To those who will look, the sizes, shapes, and colors of such creatures are endlessly diverse. To those who will listen, the roars, hoots, howls, tweets, snorts, and chirps of wildlife are a soulful natural music that just doesn't translate electronically.

In Arizona there is no better place to enjoy the sights and sounds of a wide variety of animals firsthand than the Phoenix Zoo. Admittedly, zoos are not substitutes for nature, but, for most of us,they're the best if not the only access we have to most of the animal kingdom. It was just this realization some twenty-six years ago that led to the founding of the Phoenix Zoo.

The effort began in 1961 with Robert Maytag, a newcomer to Phoenix and a wealthy member of the family that founded the Maytag appliance business. Maytag needed something constructive to do with his time and considerable energy. A casual suggestion from his new bride, Nancy, hit the mark: he would lead a drive to build a zoo-a first-class zoo-in Phoenix.The project became a main focus of his life. In less than a year, Maytag gathered his closest friends, incorporated the group as the Arizona Zoological Society, and began acquiring animals and generating publicity. Then he secured a site and su pervised initial construction.

THE PHOENIX ZOO

But Robert Maytag never saw the dream realized. He died in March, 1962, at age thirty-eight.

The zoo might have died with him, but Nancy Maytag replaced her husband as society president and carried on the direction of the organization with help from many quarters. Finally, in November of that same year, the first new American zoo since the Great Depression opened its doors as a nonprofit, privately owned, self-supporting enterprise. It was named in honor of its founder.

Soon, however, it became clear that building the Maytag Zoo was one thing, running it was another. As luck would have it, that first summer of operation Phoenix temperatures hit record highs and attendance and income fell. Before its first anniversary, the zoo was deep in debt.

Desperate problems require extreme solutions. Lest people assume the Maytag family was underwriting the whole project, Nancy Maytag made two recommendations to the board of directors: first, underscore the need for continuing community help by changing the name of the "Maytag Zoo" to the "Phoenix Zoo"; second, remove the last vestige of the Maytag identification by accepting her resignation as society president. The board assented to both.

To deal with the financial problems, the board, President Earl Bimson, and Zoo Director Jack Tinker charted a management course that was strict, deliberate, and fiscally conservative. After the exhilaration of the zoo's early days, it was a painful adjustment-with anxious creditors, departing staff, and slow growthbut eventually it saved the zoo.

New exhibits were added gradually during the first decade. With more for visitors to see, attendance and revenue increased enough to support the operation through the summer slack season. Still, it wasn't until the mid-1970s that black ink first appeared on the ledgers.

When Dr. James C. Savoy became director in 1978, he observed that the zoo "was ready to grow practically on its own." Since then construction has been continuous, with addition of a score of new exhibits and public service areas and remodeling of almost as many more.

Modern zoos typically pursue four broad goals: research, conservation, education, and recreation. Practically speaking, only the wealthiest institutions can

Wildlife World Getting the Visitors Involved

"When I was six, my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas. I said, 'Any-thing that's alive!'"

It's been that way ever since for Mickey Ollson, founder and director of central Arizona's newest zoo, Wildlife World near Litchfield Park, on the metropolitan area's far west side. After acquiring a series of exotic childhood pets, Ollson as a young man launched a successful rare-animal farm, supplying captivity-raised creatures to collectors around the world.

But his true goal was to open a zoo of his own. In October, 1984, he did just that, christening his project "Wildlife World."

Can Maricopa County support two zoos? Ollson thinks so: "For one thing, we're not really competing with the Phoenix Zoo. We have very few of the same animals. Most of those we have at Wildlife World are on display nowhere else in the Southwest, let alone Arizona.

"For another thing," he adds, "we've staked out a different territory. Many people here on the west side [of the Valley] are unlikely to go the forty miles or more to the Phoenix Zoo; so we're drawing a different clientele."

Visitors like the intimacy of Wildlife World. At forty acres, it's compact enough to tour comfortably in a few hours, something appreciated by parents with youngsters.

There's a petting area where children can touch some of the smaller, gentler animals. And near the zoo entrance, a path winds through dense shrubbery housing a large aviary with some thirty species of tropical birds.

But the most popular attraction is the Lory parrot feeding exhibit-unique in the world. Supervised by a keeper, the tame rainbow-hued birds perch daintily on hands, arms, shoulders, and heads while visitors serve them apple slices and try to out-grin and out-coo one another.

Wildlife World Zoo was the first to breed, in captivity, five different species of birds, and has twice been honored by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums with its Significant Breeding Award.

Though catering to the public is essential to the survival of any zoo, Ollson is earnest about conservation, too: "We've been breeding rare animals for more than twenty years. With Wildlife World, we can continue that work and go one step further by involving our visitors in the joy and excitement of observing living - Dick George creatures."

Wildlife World Zoo

Getting there: Wildlife World Zoo is located on the Phoenix area's far west side, three miles west of Litchfield Road at 165th and Northern avenues.

Admission: From September 15 to June 14, the zoo is open seven days a week, from 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 PM. From June 15 to September 14, the hours are 8:00 AM. to 3:00 PM; summer weekends, hours are 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 PM. Gift shop, food service, children's petting area. Admission charge.

Activities: In a forty-acre setting of green grass and big trees, the zoo offers the Southwest's largest exotic bird aviary, five species of flightless birds, kangaroos and wallabies, jaguars, tigers, zebras, deer, llamas, gazelles, and more than 500 other animals. Wildlife World is also a breeding zoo; so many animals can be seen caring for their young.

For more information: Wildlife World Zoo, 16501 West Northern Avenue, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340; telephone (602) 935-WILD.

afford wildlife research on a large scale. But as a relatively young zoo, and oper-ating without tax support, Phoenix is doing quite well in the remaining three areas of conservation, education, and recreation.

Like most zoos, Phoenix places a high premium on endangered species. In fact, its doors had barely opened when it played a leading role in the international effort to save the Arabian oryx from ex-tinction. In 1963 nine of the last oryxes on earth were brought to Phoenix to start a breeding program.

In a story paralleling that of the zoo itself, the small white antelope got off to a shaky start but scrapped every inch of the way back from the abyss. Today some 400 of the handsome species are protected in refuges around the world, thanks largely to work done here.

But such conservation efforts mean little without effective educational programs calling attention to the continuing problems that face wildlife. Since 1965 more than 1.5 million people-children and adults-have taken part in a variety of Phoenix Zoo educational programs. In addition, virtually every visitor encounters the zoo's innovative graphic displays that convey the story of the animals and the message of conservation.

To most of its 700,000 visitors a year, however, the zoo's greatest attraction is wholesome recreation in a uniquely beautiful setting. Today, as they wander the shady walkways amid lush landscaping and scenic exhibits, few recall the dusty paths and tiny pens of the early years. Even fewer realize it all came about as a community effort: every exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo was donated. No other American zoo can make that claim.

Much of the funding has come from the Phoenix Zoo Auxiliary, sponsors of an annual Aid-to-Zoo National Horse Show. But there have been numerous other private, civic, and corporate donors as well.

Whatever the source, there has been a unifying philosophy to the growth. "We're not trying to defeat the desert," says Savoy. "We're trying to work with it. That's why we select animals and exhibits that lend themselves to our desert environment."

Accordingly, zoo designers try to make the most of the zoo's location in Papago Park, on Phoenix's east side. Island exhibits dot artificial lakes left from a time when the site was a state fish hatchery. Desert vegetation shares space with the collection of native animals in the Arizona Exhibit. Rocky buttes dramatically showcase bighorn sheep and the Nubian ibex.

Though its delivery was difficult and its infancy troubled, the zoo of Robert Maytag's dream is coming into its own, a healthy, blossoming adolescent, a Cinderella of the Southwest.

WHEN YOU GO...

Phoenix Zoo Getting there: Phoenix Zoo is located on the city's east side, off Galvin Parkway (64th Street). Bus service is available via the Phoenix Transit System; telephone (602) 257-8426 for route information. Admission: The Phoenix Zoo is open every day of the year. Hours are 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 PM. during the summer, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. in winter. Stroller, wagon, wheelchair rentals. Plaza refreshment center. Gift shop. Accommodations available for blind, deaf, and physically handi-capped. Zoo in-formation booth. Picnic areas available (tables and ramadas) throughout the grounds. Admission charge.

Activities: There are 125 acres of rolling hills, shaded paths, natural environ-mental exhibits, and more than a thousand animals, many of which are endangered species. Narrated tours via Safari Train.

Nearby attractions: Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona State University, Pueblo Grande Museum, Scottsdale.

For more information: Phoenix Zoo, 5810 East Van Buren Street, P.O. Box 5155, Phoenix, AZ 85010; telephone (602) 273-1341. Arizona Office of Tourism, 1480 East Bethany Home Road, Phoenix, AZ 85014; (602) 255-3618. Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 34 West Monroe Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003; (602) 254-5521. Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, 7333 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, AZ 85251; (602) 945-8481.