Cameron Park Zoo considering new ownership, brings idea to city council at meeting

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The Cameron Park Zoo could eventually be under new ownership if the city decides to privatize the tourist and local hotspot.

The idea was brought to city leaders by the zoo’s director and a consultant at an August 5 city council meeting and they say it’s a promising way to secure the zoo’s growth for the future.

This is the first step in a potential process to determine if the zoo should have a different owner. Currently of the 17 approved Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Texas, Cameron Park Zoo is one of two that are still city operated.

“The most common style of governance is non-profit,” says zoo director Brendan Wiley.

Wiley says zoos and aquariums come to this decision for a number of reasons. Like the amount of money allocated to the zoo doesn’t meet the amount needed to grow or the zoo isn’t bringing in enough visitors to support its operations.

And a recent study showed that under the zoos current governance structure, it could lose more than two million dollars over the next ten years.

“But with a privatized model in place, we assume the zoo is most likely to turn a surplus of about two and a half million dollars so that’s a two million dollar deficit versus a two and a half million surplus,” says a consultant with Canopy Strategic Partners who is helping the zoo.

Regardless of ownership, the consultant says the zoo is going to have to steadily hire more employees, secure a minimum of three million dollars annually for operations and continue to drive up foot traffic.

“Like you’re experiencing this year, you have penguins and you see a jump in traffic. We’ve seen that play out over and over again at zoos we’ve worked with across the country so it’s critically important that you continue to build on what is already a great zoo,” he says.

We are nowhere near a final decision being made. This just gave the council a chance to inquire about the recent study to determine if it’s worth moving forward with for the future.

If council decides to move forward then the next step would be to look at past performance, future trends and set their potential growth targets.

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