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Former Zoo Worker Tells Of Links To Private Ranch

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By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2008

Updated: 12/10/2008 09:01 pm

TAMPA - A former employee of Lowry Park Zoo said he was told to resign or be fired after he questioned why zoo president Lex Salisbury took zoo animals and supplies home to his private Dade City ranch.

Mark Reynolds said Salisbury routinely directed him to bring zoo animals, hay and supplies to the ranch. Reynolds also told The Tampa Tribune he helped build barns and did other work on Salisbury's property while on the zoo's payroll.

"Lex told me it was none of my business where the animals were going," Reynolds said.

The revelation comes as the city of Tampa prepares to release an audit of the zoo's transactions with another of Salisbury's outside interests, Safari Wild, a for-profit animal park he plans to open in Polk County.

Salisbury has said he never personally profited from his 21-year tenure with the zoo. He is on paid leave from his $271,000-a-year job, awaiting results of the audit. He did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Reynolds, who left the zoo in July 2007, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the zoo seeking to be repaid for $15,000 in improvements he made to the living quarters at the zoo's 1,300-acre preserve in Pasco County.

The zoo never disputed that Reynolds was to be repaid, according to an e-mail from the zoo that's included in the suit. But the suit alleges that Salisbury reneged on the deal, fearing it would not pass the muster of zoo auditors.

"It doesn't look like much of what Mr. Salisbury did would pass the auditors," said Reynolds' attorney, Joseph Fritz.

In a written statement today, zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson said, "It is not our policy to comment on personnel issues, current or former. As a private nonprofit organization, the zoological society's employment and personnel records are private."

The Tribune first reported in August that Salisbury used zoo administrators to promote and market Safari Wild. The newspaper reported in October that Salisbury bought, sold, traded or was given more than 200 zoo animals.

The news prompted the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to temporarily suspend Lowry Park Zoo's accreditation, a blow to an attraction that Child magazine once named the nation's most family-friendly zoo.

Reynolds worked at the zoo's Pasco land for more than three years, Fritz said, as caretaker, ranch hand and handyman.

At one point, Reynolds said he was told to pick up extra utility poles that Tampa Electric Co. donated to the zoo.

At Salisbury's instructions, Reynolds delivered the poles to Salisbury's Dade City ranch, Reynolds said. The utility poles were used to build hay barns on Salisbury's property.

Reynolds said he also transported animals between the Tampa zoo on Sligh Avenue and North Boulevard and Salisbury's ranch. The animals included pygmy hippos and Oryx, an antelope species common in Africa.

In early summer 2007, Reynolds said, he raised questions about Salisbury's growing collection of Lowry Park animals when the zoo chief removed African Watusi cattle from the zoo's Pasco preserve on a Sunday.

That July, Reynolds said, he was told to resign or be fired.

The lawsuit says that Reynolds spent $25,000 to remodel an apartment at the Pasco preserve, which the zoo leases free from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to breed wildlife and endangered animals.

In return, according to Reynolds' agreement with the zoo, he would be reimbursed $5,000 for each year if he left Lowry Park before the end of five years.

Reynolds left two years into the agreement, the suit says.

On Oct. 23, 2007, Fritz notified the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud, that Reynolds intended to sue, according to documents obtained by the Tribune.

Reynolds' named Swiftmud because ultimately, it owns the living quarters and benefits from Reynolds' remodeling, which included three new bedrooms, a bathroom and updated appliances.

After Reynolds moved away, the zoo hired Tom Realing from the Zoo of Northwest Florida in Gulf Breeze to manage the Pasco property.

Doug Kemper, the former director of the Panhandle zoo, said he encouraged Realing to apply at the Lowry Park Zoo to fulfill his dream of working with elephants.

Instead, Realing found himself tending a herd of cattle and other small animals in Pasco County, Kemper said.

It wasn't long before Realing and his wife, Ashley, complained to Kemper that he spent much of his time working at Salisbury's ranch and at Safari Wild.

The zoo paid two staffers a total of $8,211 to work at Safari Wild to care for zoo animals boarded on the property as part of a lease, according to zoo records obtained by the Tribune. The lease was voided after the Tribune reported about it.

Contacted by the Tribune, Realing would not say whether he worked at Salisbury's private properties. He did say he had visited Salisbury's ranch and Safari Wild.

"I am a worker," Realing said Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings. I stay positive."

Realing left Lowry Park and returned to the Gulf Breeze zoo.

Several Lowry Park board members said recently they have lost faith in Salisbury. They said his fate rests largely in the results of the city's zoo audit, expected to be released Friday.

"I am not pleased with the way Lex Salisbury has carried out his duties as president and CEO of Lowry Park Zoo, nor with the people who have helped him in his dealings," said former Gov. Bob Martinez, a zoo board member.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the board will need to act swiftly when that information is known. Clearly, I am not a happy camper."

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at bhelgeson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7668.

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