Hutchinson Zoo working to get re-accredited with AZA

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Hutchinson Zoo has made some improvements to get re-accredited with the American Zoo Association.

The AZA re-accredits zoos every five years, and gave some recommendations for the Hutchinson Zoo. Some of those include added shade for the animals in the mini-farm, as well as creating more habitat opportunities for some of the species.

“It is always great to have some different eyes on the zoo from professionals that haven’t been to our zoo before. Having fresh eyes also helps us see new solutions that we might not have thought of to improve the well-being of the animals in our collection,” a Facebook post from the Hutchinson Zoo on Thursday said.

The Hutchinson Zoo said it switched the habitats for the swift fox and ringtails.

“We get to see them more than you saw them before, and similarly, ringtails have been climbing the walls in their habitat and really showing just really good natural behaviors,” Nicole Mantz, the Hutchinson Zoo director, said.

Hutchinson Zoo has had its accreditation for 27 years and will find out the result of this process in September.

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