Racine Zoo Executive Director Beth Heidorn Speaks of Community Ties

×

Expand

Photo courtesy of Racine Zoo

Rhinos - Racine Zoo

Rhinos at the Racine Zoo

The Racine Zoo has had an exciting if occasionally harrowing year so far: a Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra was born in April, four new meerkats made their debut in late August, and the zoo grounds survived the collapse of 10 large trees. It’s a series of victories for a zoo that sustained itself through Covid in 2020 and in 2024, saw the deaths of four long loved exhibition animals passing away from accidental falls, medical conditions, and old age respectively. The tenacity of the Racine Zoo during these difficult times is thanks to the leadership of Beth Heidorn who has been the Racine Zoo executive director for 10 years.  Heidorn sat down to discuss the recent good news, how the zoo has maintained community ties, and the changes over the past six years.

In a word, describe the journey The Racine Zoo has taken since we last talked five years ago

Since the last time I saw you, the zoo turned 100 years old in 2023. It was an exciting year for us: not only did we turn 100, that was also the year of our accreditation inspection with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums which we passed with flying colors. We’re providing gold standard care for all of our animals. We’re excited to not only turn 100 but also get reaccredited.

What is the prevailing attitude among Zoo staff currently?

The people who work in the animal care field are incredibly passionate people. They go into their daily job with their best intentions and are incredibly wonderful caregivers. We have a purpose. Ultimately, I want people to become stewards of the planet, so we touch people at a young age. We have preschool classes and go all the way up to senior programs. Our staff loves the animals that they are blessed to be able to take care of. Are there times where it’s not as pleasant such as when an animal dies of old age or we have to put them down? That’s hard hitting—these are their babies, they take care of them every day. I will put our staff up against anybody because of the passion they have for the animals. The attitude here is we love our guests, we love our animals, and we want them to make those connections with the natural world. That is what we do each and every day.

Has the connection between the Zoo and the community been affected due to recent events? How has the connection aided the Zoo through these difficult times?

Covid was certainly a difficult time, but we’re an outside location. Even though there was weirdness in the world, people came out to the zoo as much as possible. We provided a safe and welcoming place for everybody at that time and still do to this day. I think a lot of people discovered things that were outside, us included, such as national parks and state parks. People recognized it, noticed it, and have become members who are supportive of the zoo. Even through hard times, we will muster through and have an amazing community. We do things for school groups, senior centers, and community groups. We are as active out in the community because we’re part of the fabric of Racine County. We’re very serious about making sure we contributed to the best of Racine cCunty.

What lessons have you taken from the past few years?

We can’t take any day for granted: we just need to stay true to the course for The Racine Zoo with our contributions to the community. We need to make those connections to the people, so they have empathy towards nature. The lesson is that we’re doing the right things, we just need to keep plugging away to remain accessible to guests and stay true to our animals.

Have you seen the role of Zoos in society change in the past decade?

There’s probably been some change. I think the change from our side is that we are telling more of the conversation stories. People go “well, maybe you shouldn’t exist,” but there are many things we do for the local, state and national environments. We’re becoming our best advocates to tell the stories of how to contribute to nature and wild places. We need to constantly educate people on the role of Zoos and Aquariums. That’s the shift I’ve seen on our side and on the guest’s side; I see that they are becoming more empathetic to animals and wildlife. I think that’s a really great shift.

Where do you see the Zoo going from here? What are your plans for the next year and beyond?                                                            

We’re working on adding two new buildings to our property: one is a conversation education center because we do tons of programs for all ages, but we need some space. We’re also going to be building a new veterinary hospital: the better we take care of the animals, the more animals are outside, and the more guests see them.  For us, it’s an intertwined decision with both those building as we need them for our animal welfare and wellbeing. We also need the education space, and we want to make sure that more people come through our programs. In the next couple years, we’ll be getting those two buildings built. It’s going to be an exciting time.

What do you hope to accomplish in the future?

I hope we accomplish continued welfare and wellbeing of our animals, and I hope we can continue to take care of our guests. We want to continue to be community advocates and be a place where people feel safe, a place where people can spend time with their families, and a place that can be a gem of Racine County. We’re fortunate to have an accredited zoo in Southeastern Wisconsin. We sit in a really great position to help people become stewards of the planet, take care of animals, and just thrive for the zoo and our guests.