Lowry Park Zoo, which lost its accreditation in December, isn't the only local attraction courting the organization that grants it -- the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Today, the nation's premier accrediting organization for zoos and aquariums renewed its endorsement of the Florida Aquarium. The aquarium's last review by the association was five years ago. ...more

March 27, 2009

Lowry Park Zoo staff and board members scoffed in December when the Association of Zoos and Aquariums suspended its endorsement of Tampa's zoo. Today, top zoo staffers are in Oklahoma City asking the very same group to reinstate its endorsement. They will try to convince the group Lowry Park Zoo has toughened its animal transfer procedures and will embrace the group's program that manages members' populations of selected wildlife. ...more

March 27, 2009

These are uncertain times for Lowry Park Zoo. Tampa city auditors this week are expected to release a final report that former zoo chief Lex Salisbury used more than $202,000 in zoo supplies and animals for personal gain. ...more

February 24, 2009

The taxpayer-backed Lowry Park Zoo zoo is navigating its most tumultuous time since reopening in 1988. And it is doing so without a permanent director or a clear path for the future. ...more

February 23, 2009

Two top leaders of Lowry Park Zoo have been booted from their profession's most respected organization for deals that sent zoo animals to the president's private collection. ...more

December 7, 2008

The director of the zoo where a teenager was killed by an escaped tiger acknowledged Thursday that the wall around the animal's pen was 12 1/2 feet high - well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos. ...more

December 28, 2007