(And thereвЂ™s literally nowhere for that many large, dangerous animals to go within the industry. So you may see a ZAA accreditation spun by the media or anti-zoo entities as вЂColumbus lowering their standardsвЂ™ or something because all of this is drama forever, but I think thatвЂ™s what theyвЂ™d have to do at this point to be in compliance with the law and keep the majority of their animals. It turns out that as long as the zoo was in the middle of a good-faith effort to be accredited they were covered, as far as I know that ended when the appeal failed - I donвЂ™t think they can say that trying again to get AZA accreditation by starting the process over next year counts. When Columbus lost their AZA accreditation my first question was what would happen to those species (bears, elephants, hippos, large crocodilians, big cats, non-human primates other than lemurs). Ohio passed a law - the Dangerous Wild Animals Act - in 2012 that prohibits possession of a wide variety of large / dangerous species exemptions exist for a number of types of entities, including facilities accredited by AZA or ZAA. You will likely see Columbus become accredited by the Zoological Association of America shortly, which will also be a political decision and not necessarily anything to do with a change in operations or ethos or care standards. IвЂ™ve got friends in the field who still visit colleagues at Columbus and speak positively about the care the animals get, so I would say youвЂ™re fine to go and not worry about it. ThereвЂ™s a whole hell of a lot that could be unpacked about that latter bit, but basically, no, it wasnвЂ™t based on issues with general animal welfare practices at the entire facility. According to public statements by AZA, loss of accreditation was due in part to the embezzlement/misuse of resources by Stalf and Bell, and also to issues with ambassador animal sourcing and use by Jack HannaвЂ™s team. Short answer: the loss of accreditation was mainly a political thing with a whole heaping pile of industry drama thrown into it.

Columbus zoo accreditation