Push to bring a real zoo to Monterey County
A full-fledged zoo is in the works for the Salinas area and today we got a sneak peek at the new tiger exhibit opening to the public soon. But there’s still a lot left to do before the Monterey Zoo fully opens.
Formerly known as, Where the Wild Things Are, is changing its name and the business model to become Monterey Zoo.
“The animals are going into much, much larger enclosures, open style exhibits with much more stimulating activities to give their quality of life much, much more,” Monterey Zoo director Charlie Sammut said.
For the last 20 years, Wild Things was a private compound, where these cages acted as movie set trailers for well over 100 of these animals to do film and television in the area. But that landscape has changed.
“As film and television work has all but left California. We wanted to find an alternative for the animals and ourselves and the zoo was just a win-win situation for all,” Sammut said.
The zoo said it offers visitors a chance to get up close and personal with a tiger. But the one hour visiting period is getting too crowded. With plans to explain, the zoo said it’s faced with finding new ways to come up with more funding.
“The challenges are the same challenges for any and all non-profits and zoos today it’s money, it’s coming up with the money to build the exhibits,” Sammut said.
The director tells me that within the next two years he hopes to get this place up and running like a traditional zoo. The new Monterey Zoo is trying to raise the $6 million it needs through a crowd funding campaign GoFundMe.com.
