BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Zoo has officially reopened, but before you go, there are some changes you need to know about.
Before you get to the gate, you have to get your ticket. They're being sold online. You also need to wear your mask the whole time you're at the zoo, unless you're under the age of 2.
“Everyone will be temperature screened before they come in, and we will have a cleaning staff cleaning throughout the day," Buffalo Zoo Communications Manager Christian Dobosiewicz said.
While the staff has been working this whole time, this is the first time the animals have gotten visitors at the zoo in months.
And when you go, you'll notice a lot of the same changes you're seeing pretty much everywhere you go these days. There are stickers on the ground, one-way paths inside, and there’s lots of hand sanitizer.
“We have staff throughout the zoo helping guide people along at special congested areas as well," Dobosiewicz said. "We have stickers on the floor, properly socially distanced out, and we are asking the public to be courteous of their fellow zoo-goers here to understand that everybody wants to see the animals.
"But we have space, and there's plenty of other animals to go see, and we've reduced capacity here as well. We're only about 25 percent capacity for the time being."
For now, only members are allowed at the morning session from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Starting Friday, everyone is allowed to go to the afternoon session from 12 p.m. 4 p.m. The zoo will be closed for a half-hour each morning in between sessions for a deep clean.
Some of the indoor exhibits are still closed. The ones that are open have you following a one-way path. You're encouraged to go through at a steady pace, and the animals are going to have to get used to seeing visitors again.
“Definitely, some of the more social animals, definitely have noticed, like, if you and I were walking around here, they would come over here and see us, so it'll be interesting to see if they pay more attention to the guests coming," Dobosiewicz said.
"I know a lot of fan favorites, like Luna, is always excited to see people, definitely think the primates and the gorillas are a little bit more, they were confused of why there weren't people here at all times. You could notice that they would be a little more curious when somebody would walk around because they weren't used to it for the past few months."
The zoo says it took a big financial hit being closed this whole time.
"We were saying around $30,000 a day that we were losing just to feed the animals, and you know, we really do rely on that at-door sales, our admissions, to help us survive and help take care of this amazing zoo we have here," Dobosiewicz said.
"So, we are happy to open up again, and we did start an emergency response fund, and we did get some donations through that, and we are so grateful to anybody that could donate and did donate during this time."
The Buffalo Zoo is still taking donations to help make up for the money lost during the pandemic.
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