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Deal In Place For Zoo's Offspring

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By BAIRD HELGESON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2008

TAMPA - Most of the animals that Lowry Park Zoo President Lex Salisbury has borrowed came with an agreement that he could keep some of the offspring, a top zoo official said Thursday.

About 90 percent of the boarding or loan agreements stipulated that Salisbury and the zoo would split the newborns, said Larry Killmar, the zoo's director of collections. He said he would have to research how many offspring were produced.

The zoo has loaned, borrowed, donated, traded or sold 201 animals to Salisbury in the past 21 years, said Killmar, who answered media questions after news reports about the volume of animal transactions between the zoo and its president.

The zoo's dealings with Salisbury have included 39 species of animals, ranging from exotic birds and horses to an Arabian camel and rhinoceroses. The animals have been kept at Salisbury's private Dade City ranch or at Safari Wild, his private exotic-animal park that has yet to open.

The number of animals and transactions between the zoo and Salisbury are a lot more than previously disclosed. Salisbury faces growing criticism that he has used the zoo's animals and resources to help launch Safari Wild. The zoo ended transfers to Salisbury this summer.

Of those, 153 animal transactions directly benefit the zoo, such as when five bison were moved to Safari Wild to make way for a new flume ride, Killmar said. The others generally were instances when animals were sold or traded to Salisbury.

A Common Practice

It's common for zoos and other animal parks to have breeding agreements when they trade animals, Killmar said. Zoos regularly buy, loan or trade animals with one another, and the breeding agreements designate which organization gets offspring.

Killmar characterized the zoo's animal transactions with Salisbury as minor compared to the 10,000 animals that have come and gone in the history of the zoo.

The animal transactions between Salisbury and the zoo began when he was hired at the facility 21 years ago, Killmar said. The zoo boarded more than a dozen of Salisbury's exotic birds that were part of his master's degree research. The city agreed to let Salisbury board the birds at the zoo.

Since 2006, the zoo documented 224 separate times in which animals were loaned out, boarded, traded, sold, donated or returned by Salisbury.

Killmar said zoos commonly allow staff to keep or board animals, but he couldn't give an example of someone who had done so as routinely as Salisbury.

Tiffany Sands, a spokeswoman for the Cincinnati Zoo, said staffers occasionally will be allowed to take home a sick frog or bird to care for the animal. The staffer usually cares for the animal only for a few days, and the animals are not exotic.

The Indianapolis Zoo had a couple situations in recent years when it placed domestic animals, such as a dog or a cat, with staff or volunteers.

The zoo has an ethics policy and conflict-of-interest rules that prohibit staffers who receive animals from being involved in a separate venture involving animals.

"If there were ever a situation where a member of our staff would be perceived as financially benefiting from an animal transaction, that transaction would not be approved," said Paul Grayson, the Indianapolis Zoo's deputy director.

Lowry Park Zoo generally uses its staff and equipment to transfer the animals since Safari Wild and Salisbury's private ranch are so close, Killmar said. If Salisbury has borrowed animals, he would pay for their food and care. If the zoo borrows an animal from Salisbury, the zoo pays for food and veterinary care.

Trading Has Been Stopped

The zoo and Salisbury stopped trading animals back and forth after the zoo's executive committee severed a cooperative agreement it had with Safari Wild. The executive committee made the decision in June after concerns arose about a potential conflict of interest.

Salisbury has said he never profited from the arrangement.

Mayor Pam Iorio sent a letter to the zoo in early September insisting that it end the relationship with Safari Wild and insisted that future animal transfers to private property be approved by the city.

The city of Tampa's 1988 lease agreement with the Lowry Park Zoological Society stipulates that the city owns the animals and their offspring.

Salisbury has said he wasn't aware of that part of the agreement until recent weeks.

The zoo and Salisbury have returned nearly all of each other's animals.

The zoo is paying $600 a month to board the bison at Safari Wild, still displaced by the flume ride. The zoo needs to return two zebras to Salisbury, Killmar said.

Zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson said Salisbury was tied up with auditors Thursday and not available for comment.

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

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