Some veteran keepers at the Calgary Zoo will be losing their jobs as the facility is looking to make changes to the staff members in charge of animal health care.
Zoo administrators are looking at a new contract with the Animal Care Centre in Strathmore and that means that at least three staff members would lose their jobs.
Officials have already let the personnel who would be affected know but they haven’t said much more.
The changes, the zoo says, are expected to increase flexibility and make operations more cost-effective.
Now, officials are working to determine if the centre in Strathmore will meet their needs and, if it does, they will go ahead with laying off all of the current health staff.
The Calgary Zoo says the decision is a difficult one but it’s necessary for the zoo to move forward.
“We intend to immediately recruit another vet that would both be able to provide full veterinary services here at the zoo but when we don’t need them, be able to work out at ACC Strathmore, giving us that flexibility that we don’t have right now,” said Jamie Dorgan, director of Animal Care at the zoo.
He adds that getting rid of the experienced members is difficult but needed to promote animal conservation.
