Christ Yoder
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Pueblo’s best creature keepers are gearing up for events that will help zoo officials generate funding they must provide animal care that goes beyond basic food and shelter and extends to daily enrichment.
The Pueblo Zoo, 3455 Nuckolls Ave., has two summer concert series and its largest fundraiser, the zoofari, lined up to deliver safe, exhilarating entertainment this summer.
Mixed Emotions, a Pueblo group that plays a variety of songs from multiple musical genres, will perform in a concert from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on June 19. This year’s Zoofari, scheduled for July 9 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., will be the 30th celebration led by the Pueblo Zoological Society since it took over management of the city zoo in 1991.
Country and classic rock band Triple Nickel will close the summer concert series from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on August 14.
The concerts will provide a fun “family” evening with a children’s area where educational staff will organize craft projects and other activities for the youngest. Alcoholic drinks will be available for adults during concerts.
Abbie Krause, executive director of the zoo, said the June 19 concert was the perfect time to “bring daddy for a fun night in honor of Father’s Day,” which will take place the next day.
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Zoofari has transformed over the years from an informal roast pork around the picnic table to more elaborate sit-down dinners. In the beginning, the events had fun themes like “Dr. Zoolittle” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” which encouraged participants to dress up.
It all started with the late Laura Mattoon, who “was a huge supporter and volunteer” of the Pueblo Zoo in the 1970s, Krause said. A member of the Zoological Society since its inception, Mattoon came up with the idea of hosting the Zoofari which helped the zoo make the shift in animal care.
“This year, the Zoofari will allow you to take a walk down memory lane where you can see how far it has come in the 30 years since the company took over. It used to be that zoos were considered sad places and now we take great pride in caring for the animals, ”Krause said.
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“We added daily animal health enrichment and training. Zoofari helps us achieve this as it is one of the most important places to raise funds.
“We have spent over $ 8 million on improvements, not including the regular annual maintenance of the zoo.”
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Some of these upgrades include the addition of the educational building, the African lion exhibit, the otter exhibit and others.
“We have done a lot of great things and are looking to the future to continue our momentum. We want to build a new interactive exhibit for North American animals in the northwest corner of our zoo that’s underutilized, ”Krause said.
This year’s event will be both safe and fresh. It will be set up as a “roaming” event.
Dress is “garden chic” and animal print fabrics are encouraged.
“We will have three different vendors set up in the stations where they will serve small plates for a culinary adventure. We will have games, informal seating and a bar, ”she said.
For the third year in a row, the silent auction will be held online. Carol Rickman, who has attended almost every Zoofari, is “our number one auction,” Krause said.
“Rickman worked for years with Sallie Mara on Zoofari. For most of those years, Jonnie McFarland was director and Marti Osborne was co-director,” Krause said.
The cost of participation is $ 95 per person. To request an invitation, email Barbara Burch at [email protected].
Chief Journalist Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
