Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo has been forced to cancel their spring season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rome zoo has been a seasonal staple in central New York, and just last year, changed hands to new owners, Christopher and Rebecca Stedman.

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The zoo had hoped to open by mid-May, but now say the earliest they can expect to open is June 20th.

In a Facebook post, the owners described the struggles they're facing. "With scheduled school groups being canceled, we will lack a significant amount of funds needed to open for the season and to keep this zoo afloat. Several members of our family are working hard as essential employees for our neighboring businesses, to give back to our community whilst earning whatever income we can for Fort Rickey; but it is just barely enough."

You can still support Fort Rickey via a GoFundMe set up by the Stedman's daughter, Allison: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fort-rickey-discovery-zoo. You can also sign up to sponsor specific animals: https://fortrickey.com/donationssponsorsvolunteers

In the meantime, Fort Rickey's owners say they don't know what the "new normal" will look like for the zoo, and are looking forward to opening in whatever way they can.



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