Three animals experts arrived Tuesday afternoon to began a comprehensive inspection of Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo. The inspection is the next step in the city’s efforts to have Brit Spaugh Zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The inspection is being undertaken by John Walczak, director of the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky; Rick Dietz, general curator of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans; and Dr. Vickie Clyde, staff veterinarian at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin. Over the next couple of days, Brit Spaugh Zoo Director Scott Gregory and staff will open the zoo to the inspection team. They’ll be looking closely at the facilities and the animal collection, but also at the finances, professionalism, veterinary care, educational programs, research, guest services and everything else that it takes to make a great zoo, Walczak said.
Founded in 1924, the AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science and recreation. There are over 2,500 animal exhibits in the United States, but only 225 hold AZA accreditation, Walczak said. “It’s the gold standard of what defines a zoo.”
As the inspectors took notes outside the tiger exhibit, Sunny, the zoo’s Bengal tiger, walked past the clear laminated window, taking a closer look at the humans. The window is new, Gregory said, as are the 3-foot overhangs atop the 14-foot fences around the zoo’s two tigers.
At many stops along the tour, Gregory explained additions that have been made since he took over the zoo director’s job in 2009. One of the latest is an audio tour feature available to people with cell phones.
Once earned, accreditation usually runs on a five-year cycle, but that doesn’t mean the zoo staff will be able to stop making improvements, Clyde said. “The standards keep going up. You’re supposed to grow over time.”
The zoo has already worked through a lengthy application process, including a pre-inspection by staff from other AZA zoos in Kansas. Dietz said the inspection team won’t make the final determination on whether the zoo has earned accreditation. Its report will go to the Accreditation Commission.
 Zoo Curator Marge Bowen said accreditation is still weeks away.