Bowmanville Zoo to close at end of 2016 season: 'All options have been exhausted'

CTV Toronto: The end of Bowmanville Zoo Hindered by controversy and financial troubles, the Bowmanville Zoo announced it will close after the 2016 season. John Musselman reports.

The Bowmanville Zoo says it will close its doors permanently at the end of the 2016 season, citing financial pressures and declining attendance in the wake of its owner being charged with animal cruelty.

The zoo, a privately-owned facility which credits itself for being the oldest private zoo in North America, is just three years shy of its 100th anniversary of being in business.

But the financial pressures have become too much of a burden to make it work, a spokesperson for the zoo said at a news conference Thursday.

“We can’t afford to operate the zoo anymore,” Angus Carroll, director of communications and community outreach for the zoo. “All options that we had have been exhausted.”

"The decision was really made only a few days ago when it became apparent that financially, we couldn't continue," he added. "A lot of our handlers and keepers are very attached to the animals and they are very sad."

In the meantime, staff are working to find new homes for the animals but Carroll warned it could take time.

The owner of the zoo, Michael Hackenberger, has faced some harsh criticism in recent months after videos surfaced that showed his animal training technique.

Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a video last December that appeared to show the owner repeatedly whipping one of his tigers.

Brittany Peet, the director of captive animal law enforcement at PETA in Washington, D.C., said she hopes that it's only a matter of time before all exotic animal zoos are closed.

"PETA's opinion is that wild animals or no animals are to be used for entertainment and that wild animals belong in the wild. But some animals cannot be released into the wild -- none of the animals at the Bowmanville Zoo can ever be released into the wild," Peet said. "Those animals belong in reputable sanctuaries where they can live in habitats that mimic those that they would live in in the wild and social groups that would mimic those that they would have in the wild."

Hackenberger released his own video defending his technique and saying that he was not whipping the animal but the floor immediately beside him.

The video prompted the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to send inspectors to the facility.

Hackenberger was charged with four counts of causing an animal distress and one of failing to comply with the prescribed standards of care for an animal. Three of the distress charges were related to the whipping of the animal.

Despite Hackenberger vowing to fight the charges and maintaining his innocence, the public has “stayed away in droves,”Carroll said Thursday.

"The sort of campaign that has sort of been carried on against the zoo by PETA is very effective," he said. "It's hard to fight a machine like the PETA PR machine. We've been run over by a bus."