December 2006 - Henry Vilas Zoo

Congratulations to the Winners!5k Females10k Females1- Jessica Krantz 19:431- Rebecca Metzler 40:002- Robin Forbes-Lorman 21:142- Kelley Hess 41:473- Holly Fearing 21.253- Sara Walkington 41:51Mark your calendars for next year:Sunday September 23rd.Physicians Plus is again the presentingsponsor of this event!5k Males1- Douglas Stewart 16:472- Alex Viana 17:273- Doug Berstein 17:4810k Males1- Mike Gotzler 35:092- Andrew Osmond 36:353- Mathew Valley 38:11Reciprocity In JeopardyVisitors, donors, Zoo and Society Staff,community leaders, and even the televisionand newspaper reports, often speak with greatpride about “our free Zoo.” It truly makes theHenry Vilas Zoo unique and an institution ourcommunity treasures. Unfortunately, due tothe fact that everyone is always welcome atour free Zoo, your Zoological Society Memberbenefit of reciprocity with other admissionbasedzoos is in jeopardy, and in fact is alreadyeliminated at many other zoos.Until very recently, your Zoological Societymembership provided you reduced or freeadmission at most fellow institution membersof the Association of Zoos & Aquariums(AZA). For many years, reciprocity wasarranged on a one-one basis with otherinstitutions. In 2004, this process wasstreamlined through the AZA’s AdmissionReciprocity Program. However, during 2006,the AZA removed all admission free zoo’s fromits Admission Reciprocity Program.The reason for this change is very straightforward. Many zoos that require admissionhave concluded that, because we cannot offeran equal or even discounted admissionreduction benefit to their members upon a visitto Henry Vilas Zoo, there is no longer anincentive to reciprocate with our ZoologicalSociety. Sadly, this has come down to afinancial decision; other institutions are notwilling to forgo the lost or reduced admissionfees they could otherwise expect from ourmembers when there is no similar benefit fortheir members.With a consumer’s ability to easily secure amembership online, the issue of equalreciprocal benefits has gained significance formany institutions. For example, an individualliving in California can go online to purchase aFamily Membership in our Zoological Societyfor just $35, rather than purchase a much moreexpensive memberships in one of the zoos oraquariums in southern California. They couldthen take advantage of the reciprocity programto gain reduced or free admission to their localzoos or aquariums. This is clearly not fair tothe local zoo or aquarium.In an attempt to preserve this member benefitas best as we can, we have independentlycontacted several zoos and aquariums todiscuss the possibility of continuing some formof reciprocity with them. While manyinstitutions have chosen to participate in theAZA Reciprocity Admission Program only,there have been a reasonable number of zoosand aquariums that are still interested andwilling to provide our Zoological Societymembers reduced or free admission to theirinstitution, at this time.Therefore, as the Zoological Society has donein the past, we will again try to establishindividual reciprocal agreements with as manyzoos and aquariums as possible. We arehoping to secure up to 50 zoos and aquariumsfor the next membership year. While this issome good news, even this development islikely to be only temporary. All indications arethat, some day, all admission based zoos andaquariums will make the decision not toprovide reciprocity to other, non-admissionzoos and aquariums. Therefore, we willcontinue to maintain this benefit as long as isreasonable.Thank you for your support of the Henry VilasZoo and Zoological Society. Despite theoutcome on reciprocity, we hope you chooseto continue your membership next year.