Merced’s Applegate Park Zoo becomes home for disabled animals

Lions and tigers and bears? Not quite.

Merced’s Applegate Park Zoo may not have all of those creatures, but it is home to a mountain lion, black bears and other intriguing animals.

The zoo, located on 25th Street in Applegate Park, also cares for a bobcat, alpacas, emus and more.

Many of the animals are rescues, who come with remarkable stories behind them. But the zoo doesn’t just accept animals off the street. There’s a process and procedure that must be followed, and the animal’s best interest must be considered.

Q: What are the requirements for animals to be housed at the zoo, and what type of animals can the zoo accept?

A: Before being placed at Applegate Park Zoo, animals must go to an animal rehabilitation shelter in an attempt to return them to their “wild state of mind,” said zookeeper Josh Moreno.

“If someone wants to drop one off, we can’t take the animal in ourselves,” Moreno said.

Many of the animals at Applegate came from the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center, which receives about 2,000 animals a year. About one-third of the animals sent to the Stanislaus center have no chance of living and die or are euthanized moments within being received, said Donna Burt, the center’s director.

“We’re not quick to euthanize,” Burt said. “But we will try very difficult cases. It’s a matter of being humane to the animals.”

For the animals who live through the first few days, the chances of them being released back to the wild are very good, Burt said. The animals sent to Applegate are rare cases, she said, because it’s difficult to find places for them.

“The zoo isn’t full of empty cages waiting for animals,” Burt said. “We would like to have more facilities available. They only have a number of animals that they can house. They’re taking this animal for their whole life. They need to have cages and caretakers. It’s quite an expense for them.”

Burt said the center is glad to have Applegate as a facility willing to take disabled animals.

But before the center can send them to Applegate, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife must approve the transfer.

The animals living in Applegate truly are survivors.

For instance, take Boomer the bobcat: Someone tied him up in a garbage bag when he was a baby, and only because Applegate zookeeper Donna McDowell heard his cries was he rescued.

Then there’s the racoons, who were taken in at a young age because their mother was fatally hit by car.

“They’re sad stories,” Moreno said. “We try to make sure they’re taken care of and happy.”

Other creatures at the zoo were illegal pets.

Windfall the California black bear was kept as a pet and fed pizza and Dr Pepper, hardly a nutritious diet for a bear.

And Julie the coyote, who also was kept as a pet, wouldn’t bond with other wild coyotes in the rehab center. She comes straight to the fence of her cage at the zoo, eager to greet visitors.

The zoo does have capuchin monkeys, one of the more exotic species found there. Those were given to the zoo from one of Merced’s sister cities, Somoto, Nicaragua. The alpacas came from Merced’s second sister city, Albury, Australia.

I asked Moreno if the zoo would be able to keep animals such as giraffes or zebras. That, he said, would depend on whether the zoo would have the proper facilities available and whether someone on staff had at least one year of experience with that particular animal.

So far, he said, he hasn’t seen a situation like that.

This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Merced’s Applegate Park Zoo becomes home for disabled animals."