Catch up quick: The loss of accreditation was two-pronged. First, a Dispatch investigation that Alissa worked on in 2021 uncovered that former officials had been using zoo assets personally for years, resulting in losses of at least $631,000 that have been mostly recovered via settlements.
Three former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executives were charged Monday in connection with a 90-count indictment, including multiple felony counts of theft, bribery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity extending over a decade. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said that Thomas E. Stalf, former zoo CEO; Peter A.
Costs of animal feed, building products, fuel and other overhead continues to rise, he said, and the zoo recently increased its minimum wage for employees $2 to $13 per hour.