Everything is Possible with YOU!
For the past 30 years, I have had the privilege to be the Director of Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. Every day, I walk around and see how the Zoo has grown and I dream of what’s to come.
The Zoo’s progress over the past decade includes:
- A redesigned handicap accessible picnic grove that has been the site of various shows and many happy weddings
- Wolf Observation Learning Facility built to give guests a window into wolves’ habitats and behaviors
- Hanson Exploration Station, the education hub for our Award-Winning Education programs
- New Animal Commissary, to help staff better manage animal diets and distribution
- Pampas Plains Exhibit, designed to continue our work with threatened and critically endangered species
My daily conversations with our dedicated staff highlight the work we are doing with Universities, Zoos and other conservation organizations both here and abroad to help advance the care and protection of all living things. This work includes: an acoustic animal behavioral study with our Zoo residents, artificial inseminations with Cincinnati Zoo’s renowned feline specialist, Dr. Bill Swanson, reintroduction and management in the wild and our local work with you, our citizen scientists, on large scale regional species data collection.
I could go on and on… I really could! But what about tomorrow? Well, tomorrow is here.
We have so much to share and we want you to be a part of it all.
Before the end of the year, we will open the Natt Family Red Panda Pavilion and in spring of 2018 we break ground on a new Spider Monkey exhibit. With these two new exhibits underway, the Zoo will bring in fiber optic cable to completely overhaul the Zoo’s IT infrastructure. These changes will make way for a distance learning program, opportunities for live animal cams and an updated phone system. We are currently identifying and documenting all tree and shrub species on grounds and will soon become a Level 1 Arboretum. In 2019, we look to break ground on our new Andean Bear exhibit.
But wait, there is more…
From the parking lot through the Greenhouse, around the back trail and into the Learning Circle we want our guests to experience a great day outside with their family and friends. YOU make that happen: your continued support, through membership, event ticket sales, purchases at our gift shop and through donations, YOU have made our past, present and future a reality. Every dollar you donate is put to work and all of it with you in mind.
Everything is possible with YOU.
Please consider making a gift today. Please consider asking your company to match your generous gift. And please tell your friends and family why you choose to support the Zoo and ask them to come see why we are a place worth supporting.
With warm regards and gratitude,
Gregg Dancho, Zoo Director
Support Your Zoo
Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo today. We met our match of $10,000 thanks to our #GivingTuesday supporters! Help us continue fundraising to support Connecticut’s only Zoo. Contact Amanda at abolanos@beardsleyzoo.org to notify us if your company will match your gift!