Sioux Falls Mayor pushing to decomission display at Great Plains Zoo

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.(HubCityRadio)- Sparks are flying over the Delbridge Museum of Natural History at the Great Plains Zoo.

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul Tenhaken led a news conference Tuesday morning, reacting to criticism over a decision to decommission the display.

City Councilor Greg Neitzert has been the most vocal of those opposed to that move.

The Mayor says it was the only move the city could make.

The Mayor says the fact that the collection contains arsenic – a known carcinogen – led to the sudden closing of the specimens to protect the city from legal threats.

It’s a display that isn’t aging well and could produce a large legal risk.

Those are just a couple of the reasons city officials are giving for their proposal to decommission the Delbridge Museum of Natural History at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls.

Parts of the taxidermy display of African Safari animals are approaching 80 years old.

Zoo Director and CEO Becky Dewitz says the Delbridge collection doesn’t fit in the master plan being developed.

Mayor TenHaken says a bigger reason for decommissioning the Delbridge display has to do with legal risk.

City councilors will be briefed next week.

Their approval is needed to decommission the collection.