Sioux Falls city leaders are standing behind a decision to close a taxidermy exhibit at the Great Plains Zoo.
Zoo officials said they’re closing the Delbridge Museum because the decades-old specimens were processed with dangerous chemicals.
Some city council members have pushed back on the decision, saying they’ve seen community support for keeping the exhibit and its roughly 150 exotic animals.
In a press briefing Tuesday, city officials said they considered many options. City attorney David Pfeifle said it comes down to a matter of safety, noting a majority of the specimens have tested positive for arsenic.
“The other thing that’s not being discussed enough is once arsenic is discovered in a specimen, the other 20-30 percent, it migrates. It’s called a migration. That’s where the arsenic leaches out to the other specimens. The levels are expected to continue to increase," Pfeifle said. "Some people might say there’s an acceptable level of risk. Well, in our joint discussions and research thus far, there’s no ‘acceptable’ level of risk when you’re dealing with a known carcinogen.”
Sioux Falls officials made the decision to close the museum alongside zoo staff because the city owns and operates the zoo. Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Director Don Kearney said they looked at options for transferring the specimens to another organization, but the city is limited by both federal and state laws.
Mayor Paul TenHaken said the health risks and legal tape put the city in a bind even if an outside party offered to pay for enclosures for the exhibits or move the animals somewhere else. He said while he recognized the public's concern over the museum, he believes it's time to move forward.
"Communities have stages of history. The Delbridge Museum is a stage, a very important stage in our zoo's history. Now we're moving forward to another chapter in the zoo's history when we're going to bring aquariums and butterflies," TenHaken said. "I know that's sometimes uncomfortable, to say this chapter was great. But we're moving forward to the next chapter."
The issue is set to be discussed at next week’s city council meeting. If the council approves declaring the exhibits surplus property, the city will work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to dispose of the specimens.
