The animal population at Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo has sometimes been described as “geriatric,” but Zoo Director Scott Gregory is working to change that.
In addition to acquiring young lions and grizzly bears in 2013, there are plans to breed some animals. There could be new arctic foxes in the future, Gregory said. Vixey, the female fox, was placed with Tod last November. Zoo staff don’t know if the animals have mated.
Meanwhile, the king snakes have laid eggs. Gregory doesn’t know whether the eggs are fertile or not, but he has moved them to an incubator inside the Raptor Center, and they can be viewed by the public.
The zoo’s female agouti, a South American rodent, had another baby recently, but it has been sent to a zoo in Greensboro, S.C.
The Raptor Center, which houses the zoo offices, gift shop and an exhibit about birds of prey, also features the Critter Corner, with small animals such as scorpions, lizards, tarantulas and frogs. “We are about to receive a Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula,” Gregory said. They can grow up to 12 inches long.
Five swans that were placed at Veterans Memorial Park will be coming to the zoo as the City of Great Bend works on chasing geese from the lake. The swans were originally acquired in hopes they would drive geese away, which is necessary to control the blue-green algae on the lake, but that has not been successful.
Whether spring brings babies to the zoo or not, warm weather will mean more for the public to see. The alligators will be brought outside, and another short-tailed opossum will arrive from Jacksonville, Fla., but neither species can stand the cold weather.
There are also a couple of new humans working at the zoo. Sarah Cruz is the new zoo education director, and Grady Bolding is now handling guest service in the Raptor Center.