A wide-eyed squirrel monkey runs across a log as it plays with its food, popping a chunk of fruit in and out of his mouth. Behind it, another monkey climbs up a tree branch, its long tail wrapped around the bark. The squirrel monkeys move fast through their unlikely haven in the desert, where they leap from tree trunks and wooden planks onto thick ropes, scurrying through an overhead tunnel to their cooler indoor space to escape the growing heat.
The Temple of Tiny Monkeys has become a safe space for Mango, Mateo, Hudson and, especially, Toto, who in 2023 was rescued from wildlife trafficking.
Reid Park Zoo visitors stop to watch the monkey act on a recent Tuesday morning.
Bringing squirrel monkeys to the zoo was one of the first projects taxpayers funded after voters passed a new, 10-year sales tax in 2017. The 0.1% sales tax has helped pay for the first phase of zoo improvements since 2018, when the tax took effect.
Taxpayer-funded projects also include: A temple-themed lagoon habitat for popsicle pink-feathered Chilean flamingos. An updated entrance and the World of Play area, a playground with sensory exhibits where children can learn about nature while climbing and crawling through different imagined habitats. Kids can waddle through a frozen Antarctica area and learn about penguins and climb through a South American rainforest. The playground is accessible to children of all physical abilities.
The new Pathway to Asia expansion, set to open Nov. 13, is the final project in Phase 1 of the zoo’s upgrades. Pathway to Asia will create a Tucson refuge for two Malayan tigers, a komodo dragon, gibbons, red pandas and the desert-adapted sand cat.
In the November 3 general election, voters will decide whether to extend the 0.1% sales tax — or 1 cent for every $10 spent — for another 20 years to help the zoo continue its habitat and facility upgrades. If passed, Proposition 422 would reauthorize the sales tax from Jan. 1, 2028 to Dec. 31, 2047.
The goal is to “leverage those public funds with private funding,” said Nancy Kluge, CEO of the Reid Park Zoological Society, which manages the zoo. Projects like Pathway to Asia are paid for with 85% taxpayer funds and 15% private donations, she said.
What would the tax pay for?
If Proposition 422 passes, the zoo would use the majority of that funding to enlarge several habitats, giving animals more room to roam and explore as part of phases 2 and 3 of the zoo’s master plan, Kluge said.
“Phase 2 is I think the one I’m most excited about of all of them because part of what drove me to move this forward was wanting bigger spaces for our animals,” Kluge said.
Phase 2 includes redesigning an Africa exhibit as a savannah, where the elephants, giraffes, and lions currently live. The zoo is working to rehome its goats across Tucson area homes and farms to make space for that redesign.
Phases 2 and 3 also would bring in more new animals, including warthogs and pigmy hippos.
The tax would allow the zoo to continue offering affordable prices, at $12.75 for adults and $9 for children, Kluge said. The Phoenix Zoo costs almost $45 for an adult and almost $33 for a child.
The zoo offers programs like the culture pass available at the Pima County Library, which give county residents two free zoo admission passes.
People with lower incomes who receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program pay a reduced price of $2.50 per child and $6.50 for an adult. The federal food assistance programs are commonly known as WIC and SNAP, respectively.
To qualify for WIC, a family of four needs to fall within 185% of the federal poverty level, meaning the household income is less than $5,088 a month before taxes. To qualify for SNAP a family of four needs to fall within 200% of the federal poverty level, meaning the household income is less than $5,500 a month before taxes.
Extending the tax would ensure those rates remain reduced for Pima County residents, Kluge said. The tax has also covered the cost of kindergarten field trips from Tucson schools.
How has the sales tax supported the zoo?
The tax is the primary revenue source for the city’s zoo fund, which was estimated at $17.1 million in fiscal year 2024 and projected to increase to $18 million in fiscal year 2025, according to Tucson financial reports.
New animals and updated amenities like the World of Play, as well as replaced sidewalks, updated bathrooms and more shade to the zoo, all paid for in part by the sales tax, have attracted more visitors, Kluge said.
Before the 2017 sales tax, the zoo would see about 480,000 visitors a year. In the last three years, the yearly average has grown to about 600,000 visitors, almost 100,000 of whom have visited for free or on a discount, Kluge said.
With sales tax revenue, Reid Park Zoo was able to hire two full-time veterinarians, ensuring animals have expert medical care available every day, she said.
As the zoo upgrades its habitats and greater campus it is able to show the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that it has the capacity to take in and properly care for more endangered animals, Kluge said. The zoo also supports conservation efforts by giving grants to programs and working with researchers who are protecting animals in the wild.
“For us to get those animals, we want to show that we’re supporting conservation,” Kluge said. “Because that’s the whole reason that these animals are here is to teach people about caring for the animals so that they’ll want to protect them in the wild.”
As the zoo takes in the two Malayan tigers from another zoo in early November, they also will get breeding recommendations as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ species survival plan.
There are less than 150 Malayan tigers left in the wild, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, Malaysia. The zookeepers will introduce the two tigers through a fence and gradually make sure they’re compatible before breeding. The tigers will have two habitats and stay separated most of the time.
“The tigers, they breed best when they’re apart, except during breeding season,” Kluge said. “So, absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe.”
Communicating better with the community
The city of Tucson’s voter pamphlet includes eight arguments in support of the proposition. No arguments were submitted against it.
Kluge doesn’t have a specific plan for how the zoo would move forward without sales tax revenue. “We will work it out,” she said.
The zoo may have to look into raising admission prices, decreasing the amount of animals or ending programs that allowed free or reduced entry prices to avoid financial trouble, she said.
“One thing we won’t compromise on is animal care,” she said.
In 2020, as the zoo moved forward with planned upgrades, temporary fences tied to soil testing went up around one of two popular duck ponds in Reid Park, outside of the zoo.
Residents were confused and upset. They said the zoo wasn’t transparent enough in its plans to expand and wasn’t clear that the expansion would remove the park’s beloved duck pond, a free space for people to visit and interact with nature.
Zoo officials said its plans were made available to the public, and they weren’t trying to hide anything. After facilitated community discussions, the city presented a solution. They moved their maintenance yard to make space for expansion of the zoo in the opposite direction, leaving the duck pond untouched.
Since then, zoo officials have worked with the city to not only better inform residents of changes through its own newsletters and social media but also through the city’s newsletters and communications channels. They informed the park’s neighbors through mailers when construction was happening and if it might impact their homes. And the Reid Park Zoo website has a “Future of Your Zoo” section, showing residents the zoo’s master plan and providing updates as each phase moves forward.
Kluge stressed that the next two phases of upgrades would not change the existing footprint of the zoo.
In the rising summer heat of a recent late Tuesday morning, the flock of Chilean flamingos show off their yoga skills, balancing perfectly on one foot. Some nap under the shade of the trees next to the lagoon, while others preen themselves – or use their beak to clean their feathers – and a few cool off in the water.
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