There is a meeting taking place today with the Cherry Brook Zoo’s Board of Trustees in the wake of word that the Collrins have been asked to leave and there has been no explanation as of yet as to why.
We’re told a statement is going to be released at some point.
Len and Lynda Collrin have run the operations at the Saint John zoo since it first opened. The zoo received $50,000 from the city of Saint John last year though they’d requested $60,000 annually in a 3-5 year service contract. By comparison, the city of Moncton gave over $850,000 to the Magnetic Hill Zoo in the 2016 budget.
Saint John councillor-at-large Gary Sullivan describes himself as a fan of the zoo, and believes the city should be a stronger financial supporter. He believes the community is very supportive of the zoo.
“I think having a zoo in your city is just one more thing that helps to draw people to live in the area and want to stay here. Just the extra opportunities that are provided from a cultural, recreational, educational standpoint I think it’s an asset to the city.”
He says he credits the zoo to a great extent with his daughter’s love of animals and her keeness to potentially become a veterinarian in the future.
