BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Zoo announced Monday that it will be keeping its interim President and CEO Lisa Smith on a full-time role.
She has a plan to upgrade the Zoo in many ways during her time in charge, but does her view for the future match up with what guests want to see from the site?
Around every corner of the zoo, families are coming face to face with their favorite animals, but despite the lions, polar bears, and buffaloes there's one animal missing in the hearts of many zoo-goers.
“I would say [I miss] the elephants,” said 7-year-old Luke Iannicelly
“I want to see elephants,” said 2-year-old Lila Ketelsen
“I hope they bring them back,” said Jenny Danbolt, who’s gone to zoo her entire life. “Those are things the kids look forward to seeing because they’re so big and it’s not something they get to see.”
With Smith now operating as the full-time president and CEO, it could possibly create a new future for the return of those missing elephants.
“It would be premature to say that we would [bring them back], but we have so many other great animals though that I really encourage everybody to come to the zoo and check out the gorillas, polar bears, giraffes.”
The elephants, which left for New Orleans in 2018, are not expected to return to the Queen City quite yet.
However, Smith said she has a lot of other things in mind to improve your Buffalo Zoo experience.
“Our next big project is going to be a gorilla exhibit.”
Along with the new exhibit on the horizon, she also announced upgrades to walkways at the entrance of the park and new skylights for indoor animals.
“We have a lot of infrastructure projects underway, about 33 different ones,” Smith said. “I am thrilled, I am on Cloud 9, this is the pinnacle of my career right now.”
Smith said that she will spend her time in charge of the zoo focusing on both conservation and education, with hopes to see plenty more guests soon.
