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For the Love of Animals! Ted Fox, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s director, celebrates 30 years working for the organization By Mary Beth Roach
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f the 35 years that the new Burnet Park Zoo — now called the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park — has been open in Syracuse, director Ted Fox has worked there for 30 of those years. As a point of clarification and a brief segue down memory lane, those of a certain age will most likely recall the “old” Burnet Park Zoo. The city of Syracuse turned it over to Onondaga County in 1979. It remained open until 1982, when it was shut down for a complete overhaul. It reopened in 1986 as the “new” Burnet Park Zoo. It was renamed Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park in 1999, following an endowment of $2 million from the Rosamond Gifford Charitable Corp., commonly known as the Gifford Foundation. A roast of Fox to celebrate his tenure will be the highlight of the zoo’s first-ever fall conservation ball on Sept. 10. Funds raised will support animal care at the zoo and conservation in the wild and the community, according to Carrie Large, executive director of the Friends of the Zoo. She said the Friends of the Zoo, which is presenting the event, financially supports the zoo, with funds going to animal welfare, community education, conservation and guest experience. The group funds many of the renovations and improvements at the zoo. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, the Friends of the Zoo is comprised of a staff and a volunteer board, and it oversees the zoo’s gift shop; membership; educational programs; the rental and catering of the zoo for special events; and such popular fundraising events as Brew at the Zoo. The Friends’ Pic of the Month contest invites the public to take pictures at the zoo and submit them for acknowledgement and
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prizes. Each month the winning photo is posted on the Friends’ various social platforms. His start at the zoo While Fox has had a love of animals, especially birds, since he was a young boy, he said he didn’t really know much about zoos early on. However, that all started to change when, in about 1990, he was invited by a friend to join him for a visit to the Burnet Park Zoo. He met the then-bird curator Ken Reininger, who encouraged Fox to volunteer at the zoo a few days a month. In 1991, Fox graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in animal science with a minor in poultry science and a concentration in natural resources. He began working as a part-time zookeeper in the bird department at the zoo. “That’s when I started thinking, ‘Boy, this field is something really special and it checks so many boxes for me personally,’” he said during a recent interview. It brought many of his interests together — conservation, public education and the opportunity to connect “community with something so special to me,” he added. He would go on to serve as a small mammals keeper, a birds keeper, bird collection manager and a curator. He would be named director in 2011, replacing Chuck Doyle. In describing his responsibilities as director, he referenced the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the accrediting organization for the zoo and other such facilities. “If you ask our accrediting body, there’s one person that’s in charge and responsible for everything that happens at the zoo and that’s the director,” he said.
