While not quite as traumatic as being the last two unicorns watching the Arc sail away, these are uncertain times at the Pueblo Zoo. But unlike the aforementioned unicorns, it’s the zoo that finds itself treading water.
Unless the facility, the largest such zoological attraction in all of southern Colorado, gets an economic shot in the arm, it may—in a worst-case scenario—go dark. That doesn’t mean tomorrow. But, on its current trajectory, said zoo Executive Director Abbie Krause, it’s on a three-to-four-year timetable.
The zoo, part of Pueblo’s sprawling City Park, has been a part of the city’s landscape since 1934. It was a Depression era project built by the Public Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration. It is included on the National Register of Historic Places.
And like many zoos its evolution has been dramatic, going from a facility that merely warehoused animals into becoming a modern, boutique-like facility that includes a menagerie stretching from antelopes to zebras.
And while the zoo gets a portion of its budget from the city, slightly more than $900,000 or 15 percent, it generates the lion’s share of its operating budget. But Pueblo, like many Colorado cities in 2025, is running in the red.
In her State of the City address, Mayor Heather Graham projected Pueblo’s shortfall at $8.5 million for 2025. Painful cuts will be made, she said. The first term mayor said that cuts that in a normal economy would not be considered are now under the microscope. In fact, Graham shared that non-profits normally getting funding from the city would have to make up the money in some other way.
Current estimates have the city cutting its zoo allocation to $716,655. The slimmed down city contribution, said Krause, “wipes out five years of progress in trying to stabilize funding for the zoo…cutting back would be cutting back areas where we don’t have that wiggle room.”
The zoo, while a ‘kid brother’ to the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs and the Denver Zoo, nonetheless provides southern Colorado with both an educational and entertainment option.
It provides southern Coloradans with something they don’t have living in smaller towns. Zoo logs indicate a visitor—half of whom come from outside Pueblo—can as easily be from Lamar or San Luis as Pueblo proper. For someone living in Alamosa, for example, a road trip to the Albuquerque Zoo is shorter than the drive to Denver.
The zoo has become expert in squeezing every penny out of its $3 million annual budget. It generates most of its funding from various events throughout the year and from grants and donor contributions. But from year to year, those figures can be wildly inconsistent.
A study conducted by nearby Colorado State University Pueblo estimated that the zoo pumps around $20 million into the city’s economy—a 666 percent return on investment. Pueblo Mayor Graham calls the zoo “a true amenity for our community and the surrounding area.” But, she said, “While these budget cuts are difficult, they are necessary.”
The zoo’s $3 million-dollar annual budget is complemented by money generated from events, including grants and donor contributions. Still, from year to year, those figures can be wildly unpredictable. Cutting back, Krause predicts, will be both difficult and painful.
“Our payroll from 2018 to present has gone up 50 percent,” she said. But despite the spike, zoo workers are still underpaid. “They don’t have a living wage…they don’t have the ability to have the same wages as a city worker.”
The zoo has been a regular subject of discussion at City Council meetings. And while it hasn’t yet secured the funding it needs to continue on past the critical three- or four-year window, it has found support from at least three council members. Councilmen Joe Latino, Mark Aliff and Dennis Flores all have spoken out on the benefits the zoo represents to the city.
“I look at it as a net giver,” said Flores. “They bring tourists to town, and they spend their money here.” The lifelong Puebloan said of the zoo that it is one of the entities that “enhance the quality of life” in the city. “I have fought not to cut (the budget),” he said. “But I lost. I don’t know how they’re going to make it.” The city and the zoo are in regular dialogue over the level of support that can be provided. But, said Graham, challenging economic times dictate sometimes having to make painful decisions. “If we don’t start looking at revenue sources,” Graham told KRDO13, “come 2026, the city is going to be in significant trouble.”
