Memorial Day weekend is, in many cases, kick off summer season for American zoos. It might be when summer hours change, or seasonal exhibits open, or when seasonal staff begin work. For zoos that are closed during the winter, most will already have been open for a month or so, if only as a soft opening before things really get busy.
This weekend also marks the reopening of Virginia's Natural Bridge Zoo. Normally, the zoo would have opened more than a month ago, but it's... been going through some things. After legal actions resulted in the zoo parting ways with many of their animals through confiscation and surrenders, the future of the facility was very much in doubt. Apparently, it is reopening, albeit with fewer animals. There's been discussion about renaming it, as other zoos have done to shake off scandal (including, ironically, one owned by the son of the Natural Bridge Zoo's owner - the Reston Zoo was rebranded as Roer's Zoofari, and then NovaWild, under successive new owners).
There is also a new owner at Natural Bridge, but since the new owner has the same last name as the old owner, I'm not exactly convinced huge changes are on the horizon.
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