Las Vegas Zoo
Southern Nevada Zoological and Botanical Park
The Southern Nevada Zoological and Botanical Park, often called the Las Vegas Zoo, was located on three acres in a mixed residential and commercial area of Las Vegas and held over 150 species of animals.
In 2013, relations between the park’s trained zookeeping staff and park owners Pat and Muffy Dingle reached a tipping point. After years of customer complaints and USDA violations citing poor vet care, lack of shade protection from the Las Vegas sun, poor pen conditions, improper food, and general disrepair of the center, zookeepers who had remained working to provide what care they could to the animals felt that they had no remaining options in response to the owners’ neglect but to coordinate walking away from the facility.
Following the exodus of the trained staff, the park was closed.
After the closure, the park’s animals were distributed amongst zoos and other facilities. Several of them were taken in by sanctuaries including Keepers of the Wild in Arizona and Save the Chimps in Florida.
Thankfully, other nighttime explorers have since left many of the buildings and enclosures damaged beyond repair.
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