The zoo's new blues

Washington Post: The National Zoo, one of the Smithsonian Institution's most popular attractions -- and once one of the nation's premier animal parks -- is being launched into another spell of uncertainty. Despite Lucy Spelman's announcement 10 months ago that she would be stepping down as the zoo's director this month, the Smithsonian still has not found a replacement. Now the 114-year-old zoo will be placed under the control of the Smithsonian's undersecretary for science, David Evans, who expects to show up at the 163-acre park two days a week -- that is, if he can be spared from his other Smithsonian duties. That simply won't do. The National Zoo, if it is to reclaim its luster and its reputation as a world-renowned facility, requires more than part-time leadership and management.
Troubling report
As a testament to its popularity, the zoo still draws more than 2 million visitors a year. But as an interim report of a year-long National Academy of Sciences study showed in February, the zoo's standards and operations in veterinary care, pest control, nutrition and recordkeeping have slipped seriously in recent years. Lapses were so widespread that the well-being of the zoo's 2,600 animals was threatened, the study concluded. Spelman, caught in the middle of controversies over a spate of animal deaths and charges of park mismanagement, decided that she had become a lightning rod and a distraction and that the time had come for her to move on. She made her announcement in February, giving the Smithsonian leadership ample notice of her departure this month. But the zoo is no closer to having an experienced manager in place than it was when Spelman said she was leaving. That is inexcusable.
Meanwhile, the National Academy of Sciences is expected to release its final report next month. Who will be on hand to receive it and then implement the recommendations for action? Evans? What if it's not his day at the zoo?