'We have 326 mouths to feed': Brantford zoo falling on hard times during lockdowns

Brantford zoo struggling amid pandemic From CTV Kitchener's Krista Sharpe: Twin Valley Zoo in Brantford has been devastated financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brantford — Co-managers of Brantford’s Twin Valley Zoo Tom and Jennifer Stallmann say the ability to keep food in the mouths of their animals has become a concern.

“It's a matter of feed, and animal’s lives,” Jennifer said.

The Zoo is home to 326 animals including their newest addition, a baby lemur born earlier this month.

“They don’t get told we just need to wait one more month to pay that bill,” Jennifer said, adding she's frustrated by the lack of government support available for businesses like hers that have animals to feed and care for.

“We just can’t close the door, turn the lights off, call the insurance company to reduce the rates," Tom added. "We have these mouths that need to be fed every single day."

Between heat, vet bills and feed for the animals, the couple says they're spending about $50,000 a month on the necessities.

A number of their animals, not native to Canada, require specialized food.

“That's just to maintain our facility. That’s without doing any extras. That’s just basic maintenance,” Tom said.

Jennifer says the zoo has been taking advantage of wage subsidies for employees but when it comes to the fixed costs, she feels there hasn’t been enough help.

“Because we are a seasonal operation we don't necessarily qualify right away for those losses, especially over the wintertime. We wouldn't show a loss in revenue because we have no revenue.”

The 30-year-old zoo sits on 25 acres of open air space, 17 of which are walkable for customers.

Jenniferis hoping the government will change their mind when it comes to the delayed opening of zoos, stating interaction with nature and animals is important to mental health.

“As a society, I believe we need to let nature nurture," she said. "Mother earth is there for us, for a reason.”

Every year, the Twin Valley Valley Zoo opens on May 1. That is the start of just under 200 days the seasonal business can be open and is able to make a profit, but this year the couple is scared a profit won’t be made.

According to the province's new re-opening plan, zoos can't unlock their gates until we move into Step One.

Step One of the road map takes effect two weeks after 60 per cent of adults in the province have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is estimated to be some time mid-June.

The provincial government stated opening will come with restrictions and some form of limited capacity.

The Stallmans say limited capacity hinders their ability to make money.

“It's actually going to cost us money to open our doors. We cannot operate on reduced capacity,” Jennifer said.

“If we are forced to go into reduced capacity, that is sort of the beginning of the end for us,” Tom added.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Stallmans estimate they've missed out on $500,000 of potential income

“We're like squirrels we have to accumulate during a certain period of time, enough nuts to carry us through the winter," Tom said.

It has them worried the winter maybe even more of a struggle. Tom said they are expecting to be on hard times for a few years.

“If we don’t make up what we lost, it will put us in a very dangerous place,” Jennifer said.

The Twin Valley Zoo has started a GoFundMe page to help cover the essentials.

The couple says they are very grateful to their community members and loyal customers who have already bought season passes in anticipation of their opening, whenever that may be.

Jennifer says she wrote letters of compassion to different levels of local government in hopes of having her struggles heard.

The GoFundMe page states those who are not in a financial position to donate can write letters in support of the zoo to their local politicians.