Over the past few years, there had been a spate of zoos and aquariums losing their AZA accreditation as standards have tightened. Most often, these have been the smaller facilities that don't have the budget or support of the big institutions, making staffing and maintenance more of a challenge. An outlier here, however, has always been the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium which, about a decade ago, made the deliberate, voluntary decision to leave AZA over philosophical disagreements about elephant management. At the time, some of us wondered if it would mark the start of a trend of zoos breaking away from AZA to go their own way.
Years later, we have our answer - no, it did not. After re-applying last year, being tabled, and being re-examined this year, Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium is once again an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Likewise, virtually all of the institutions that I know of which have lost their accreditation are working to get themselves back in - some have all ready made it.
For better or worse, AZA seems to have created a political environment in which it is much easier for a zoo or aquarium to survive and thrive as a member of the community than it has on the outside.
Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium Regains 'Gold Standard' accreditation from AZA after exacting process
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