How one man helped change image of Aurora's Phillips Park Zoo

Aurora's Phillips Park Zoo was, in many ways, a free-for-all when Randy Johnson took control of it around 2000.

Vandals would walk through at all hours of the night. Locks got picked, and holes were cut into fences. Then there were frantic chases for animals on the loose — animals that weren't being properly cared for due to the lack of a veterinarian on staff.

“The zoo was pretty much on a decline at that point,” said Johnson, who retired last month, sparking a search for a new zoo manager. Superintendent of Parks Dan Anderson is temporarily in charge of administrative duties at the zoo until a replacement for Johnson is selected.

“There wasn't very much funding, and things were just barely kept going,” Johnson said of his first years on the job. “It wasn't going anywhere.”

In the years that followed, Johnson worked hard to change the meaning of the word “zoo” when it was used to describe the Aurora attraction, from a place of disorder to a place that was well-maintained and offered quality educational animal exhibits.

Johnson was hired by the city in late 1982 as an animal controller. He spent about a decade in that position before being promoted to director of animal control.

Around 1998, city officials asked if he would be interested in moving his family into the caretaker's house on the zoo property so he could oversee its operations. He said “yes” and will live there until his retirement.

After about two years of running both animal control and the zoo, Johnson, who has a degree in zoology, took on the zoo manager position full time.

“This was something that I had always wanted to do, and we were blessed to be able to do it,” he said.

His wife also was a city employee before retiring in November, he said, and “we had a pretty good ride.”

One of the first tasks Johnson wanted to tackle when he took on the zoo job was the installation of perimeter fencing, to keep the trespassers out. But he quickly discovered the zoo had no budget. A small amount of money to keep it afloat came from the parks budget. In the years that followed, Third Ward Alderman Ron Moses dedicated several thousand dollars that he received for improving the ward to the zoo. Johnson said it helped fund the fence, fresh paint and cleanup efforts.

Eventually, Johnson got a zoo-specific budget, hired a veterinarian and started to focus on the collection of animals.

“It was mainly farm animals and a variety of deer, three or four different species, and a birdhouse full of 30 to 40 parrots and parrot-type birds all in one building, free flight,” he said. “It was just a hodgepodge of different animals. I wanted to turn our zoo into a North American-type zoo. We wanted to bring in wolves, bald eagles, phase out the farm animal aspect.”

Now, the zoo includes those North American animals, along with the river otters and elk that were present when Johnson arrived. New additions include mountain lions, owls, hawks, falcons and reptiles.

Over time, extensive training, feeding schedules and enrichment activities also were set up for the 80 or so animals, which represent 35 to 40 species.

“With a lot of help from the parks directors at that time, along with the city, we were able to turn the park around,” Johnson said. “People started coming in.”

Roughly 200,000 visitors pass through the zoo gates each year. Johnson hopes that number will continue to increase. He believes it can if the zoo gets accredited and looks for help from corporate sponsors that could provide funding for new exhibits.

“I had a great staff,” Johnson said. “They really focus on the care of the animals and making sure things are right. We're always getting compliments on how the zoo changed for the good. It was kind of on the downhill run, and now we're pretty much a destination.”