ME's Zoo was a privately-owned zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 in Parker City, Indiana

Parker City, Indiana

Parker City is a town in Monroe Township, Randolph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,419 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Parker City is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land...

. The zoo covered over 40 acres (16.2 ha), and was home to more than 300 animals. ME's Zoo was especially popular in the weeks preceding Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

, when the zoo grounds were decorated with more than 200,000 lights. The zoo closed on September 27, 2009.

History

In October 1986, ME's Zoo cofounder Max Oren was diagnosed with aplastic anemia

Aplastic anemia

Aplastic anemia is a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. The condition, per its name, involves both aplasia and anemia...

. Believing the following Christmas season could be his last, Max's friends and neighbors decorated his property with over 10,000 Christmas lights. Many people drove by to see this light display.

Oren was confined to bed starting in January 1987 during treatments for his disease. During that time, he enjoyed watching his pet deer and donkeys grazing outside his window. This led to the idea of starting a zoo. ME's Zoo opened to the public in May 1988. The name came from the initials of Oren and his wife's first names: Max and Eileen. The current owners were Eileen Oren and Bob Taylor.

Operation

The zoo featured a wide array of animals, including primates, wild cats, bear, birds, llamas, deer, and reptiles. The zoo was open from 10 AM to 5 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and from 12 PM to 5 PM on Sundays. It was closed on Mondays and Fridays.

Throughout its existence the zoo continued the Christmas lights tradition, with a display of over 180,000 lights that would be up from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

Facilities

In addition to the animal exhibits the zoo included picnic areas, a 40 by shelter for outdoor parties, a playground, and a gift shop.

Closing

A last-minute effort to relocate a Randolph County zoo (Me's Zoo) to Delaware County, where it could have drawn more visitors and become an economic development asset, had failed, and the zoo closed as scheduled September 27, 2009. The effort came too late in part because the zoo's animals already were promised to new owners and because the scope of the relocation- securing 100 acre (0.404686 km²) of land and establishing a new zoo at a cost of more than $3 million- was too big a financial hurdle. More than 60 animals were shipped out September 28, the day after the zoo closed. More followed. The owners report that they have found new homes for all of the animals except the bison, which they intend to keep. Taylor said he and Oren have offered to consult on creating a new zoo if that interest continues.

External links

(on Wayback Machine)