Brookhaven, planning to close Holtsville zoo, seeking new homes for 100-plus animals

Brookhaven officials are in talks with local wildlife refuges and state environmental officials as they seek new homes for more than 100 animals that will be displaced next year with the closing of the Holtsville zoo.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk confirmed it has spoken to town officials about taking some animals from the Holtsville site after Brookhaven, citing budget issues, announced in September it plans to shutter the zoo.

Town officials said relocating the animals will allow at least some of them to remain on public display in their new homes.

Brookhaven officials, meanwhile, have faced calls from some residents and zoo employees to save the facility.

The zoo, part of the town's Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve, will be closed as town officials seek cost savings. Supervisor Dan Panico has said closing the zoo will save about $2 million annually. The rest of the ecology site — it opened in the 1970s — will remain open.

A Newsday investigation last year found that some former zoo employees documented cases of abuse and neglect at the facility, which is operated by the town Highway Department. Animal welfare advocates said the zoo should be closed.

The zoo's inhabitants include barnyard animals such as goats, chickens and pigs, birds of prey, reptiles and exotic species such as bison, lynx and bears.

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro said in an interview that public tours of the zoo will stop at the end of the year.

'Entirely preliminary' talks

He said talks with animal sanctuaries are “entirely preliminary,” adding, “We are not at the point of naming facilities yet."

The state Department of Environmental Conservation gave Brookhaven a list of 12 facilities licensed for "exhibition of regulated species," DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino said Wednesday in an email. She added, "The town remains the lead for identifying the facilities and transferring the animals."

Vanessa Pino Lockel, executive director of Suffolk Cornell Cooperative Extension, said in an emailed statement the nonprofit is "in conversations with the Town of Brookhaven in re-homing animals currently at the Holtsville Ecology Center."

She added: "We look forward to supporting the town as they explore a variety of potential solutions."

At least one local animal preserve said it would likely decline to take animals from Holtsville.

Marie Smith, executive director of Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, said the zoo should remain open.

“We’re still hoping they won’t close,” she said in a phone interview. “People are upset that it’s closing. ... It is a good resource for the community, not just Brookhaven but everyone around Long Island.”

Calls to save zoo

Dozens of zoo supporters attending an Oct. 23 town board meeting called on officials to save the zoo.

Some said the town should explore options such as corporate sponsorships and hosting weddings to bring in additional revenue. One girl said she would donate the proceeds from her sale of Girl Scout cookies.

Kristin Layer, an animal preserve caretaker at the zoo, said there could be "countless viable avenues for generating revenue," such as a gift shop, raffles, auctions, running races and corporate events. “Together we can build meaningful partnerships and secure a sustainable future for this historical gem on Long Island,” Layer said.

Panico said at the meeting alternative revenue options were explored, but "none have panned out."

The supervisor added later in an interview town officials hoped to send animals to places where "they will be on view to the public."

Losquadro said the town's main concern is finding preserves that can provide proper care for the animals, many of which came to Holtsville because they had been injured in the wild or were kept illegally as pets.

Town officials will consider relocating them to facilities where they will be displayed, “but the priority is the care of the animal,” Losquadro said.