TURNAROUND AT L.A. ZOO PROBLEMS FIXED, ACCREDITATION REGAIN MORE THAN $34 MILLION SPENT.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Staff Writer

Six years after mismanagement and poorly kept animals clouded its future, the Los Angeles Zoo celebrated a comeback Thursday when it regained national accreditation.

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association announced that the city's 35-year-old animal park has come a long way to address long-neglected facilities, improve the quality of animal care and restore public confidence.

``I hope the public realizes that this zoo is continuing to change in a very positive direction,'' said Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo, whose leadership has been credited for putting the animal park back on track.

``We've made some tremendous strides but there's a lot we can continue to do to improve the zoo. I not only want to make it the best zoo in California but also attempt to make it one of the best in the country.''

But the commission also pointed out areas of concern, saying the park should improve animal diets, make record-keeping more accurate, unify its leadership and renew focus on finding long-term financial viability.

The zoo has spent more than $34 million over the past five years to fund renovations, build new animal exhibits and bring the park into code compliance.

For much of the 1990s, the zoo suffered from poor management, internal power struggles, numerous health and safety violations spotted by federal and state inspectors, and vermin-infested animal exhibits. A number of animals even died at the zoo, including an African bull elephant named Hannibal in 1992 and more than 40 blackfeet penguins plagued by disease.

The last time the zoo was up for accreditation was in 1995, but it proved to be a grueling process when the AZA declined to grant it until the zoo cleaned up its act.

Since then, the zoo has opened two new animal exhibits - the Chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains, which has chimps basking under a tropical waterfall and canopy, and a Red Ape Rain Forest, which allows the zoo to breed endangered orangutans.

``Our exhibits are top-notch. Our veterinary health center is the type of facility that can now properly take care of our animals. We're helping to position the zoo to become one of the leaders in the country,'' Mollinedo said.

The commission called the zoo's animal collection impressive and in particular lauded its elephant management program as ``a model for all to observe.'' It also praised its education program for its imaginative leadership.

The report also gave a nod to the city's decision in recent years to give the zoo more independence, separating it from the Parks and Recreation Department to establish a formalized department of its own.

But the report also concluded that much still needs to be done to bolster the long-term financial security of the zoo, which continues to rely heavily on outside funding, and to ease ``continued tension'' between zoo managers and fund-raisers.

``Clearly positive strides have been made between the various leadership entities of the zoo. However, there is not one unified direction for the parties,'' the report concludes.

In particular, the report notes that a planned exhibit for gorillas has been delayed for years in part because ``fund-raising revenues have been slow to materialize.''

Gretchen Wyler, founder and president of the San Fernanco Valley-based animal rights group ARK Trust, said such funds are essential to ensuring better housing for the animals.

``I am delighted their accreditation has been confirmed and I'm delighted that all those things from the past have been remedied and we have a new health center,'' said Wyler, who sits on the Zoo Directors Advisory Committee on Animal Management.

``But we don't have a world-class zoo yet, baby. We need much better housing for gorillas and our elephants.''

In particular, the report zeros in on the decades-old tension between zoo mangers and the independent nonprofit Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, which remains in charge of membership drives and helps raise money for the zoo.

``It's really been a long-term challenge at this zoo. It stems from the fact that you have two independent bodies trying to run the institution,'' Mollinedo said, noting that GLAZA does not report to him.

The commission's report notes that the two bodies should be working more closely together. For instance, the docent program - administered through GLAZA as part of its public relations branch - could be more closely aligned to the zoo's educational programs.

Mollinedo also notes that the zoo doesn't see nearly half the money raised by the association because of overhead.

``What I would love to see in the future is that GLAZA be more aggressive in their fund-raising efforts so they can provide additional financial support for the zoo to make up for any monetary shortfalls we have to incur from city budget cuts,'' he said.

This year, for instance, the zoo took a 3 percent cut as part of the city's budget cuts.

Don Youpa, GLAZA's new president, said he is working to reconnect the public to the zoo's new face and to bring in the funds.

``Manuel has a desire to have a great zoo. What Manuel needs is more money to complete the projects to have a great zoo. And nothing would make me happier than to raise that money,'' Youpa said.

But, like Mollinedo, Youpa said the reaccreditation will help to restore the zoo's long-tarnished image.

``It's critical. It helps in raising money. It helps in building respect. It helps in restoring credibility.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Handler Scott Haist gets a lift from Ruby, a 41-year-old African elephant, Thursday at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(2) Gaby Diaz, left, and Daniel Powell, both 6, play with a telescope near the elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer