Oregon Zoo Audit Shows Employee Discontent, Stagnant Attendance

As zoo tries to become "conservation" organization, questions remain.

Lily, courtesy Oregon Zoo
By Nigel Jaquiss

A new audit of the culture at the Oregon Zoo finds that workers, most of them temporary, are not very happy or engaged in the zoo's transformation into a "conservation organization."

Auditors from Metro, which owns the zoo, delivered their report Feb. 22.

It's not surprising that the zoo would experience turmoil as it tries to shift its focus and integrate new management.

A chart that has little to do with culture highlights a longtime threat to the zoo—flat attendance.

Over the past decade, the population of the metro area has grown more than 11 percent, according to Portland State University demographers.

But zoo attendance, the biggest source of funding for the organization's $35 million annual budget, is actually lower than it was 10 years ago:

zooattendanceaudit
The audit dinged the zoo for failing to pay sufficient attention to finances.

Zoo executive director Don Moore said in his written response to the audit that morale is improving and he is aware of the need to address financial challenges.
“We will continue to perform robust financial planning to ensure our ability to focus resources on our important mission activities,” Moore wrote.

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