ATASCADERO - A zoo on the Central Coast is facing some financial trouble.
The Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero needs to upgrade its facility, but doesn't have the money to do it.
Many of the exhibits at the zoo were built 30 to 40 years ago.
Every five years, a committee evaluates the zoo's accreditation, but this time around zoo staffers aren't confident they'll get it because they're so behind on their upgrades.
The issue is the zoo doesn't have the funds to do it all.
It would cost up to $30 million to re-do the entire zoo. Updating the tiger exhibit alone would cost about $5 million.
"We've reached a point where most of our exhibits were built in the late 70's, early 80's and they're kind of falling out of favor and technology has kind of surpassed them and so it's harder and harder for us to do our job the way we need to do it," said Alan Baker, zoo director.
The zoo staff said the committee looks beyond whether the animals are happy, healthy, well-cared for -- or if bills are paid on time.
It will look into different areas, including how up to date the sewage and electrical systems are.
The zoo staff said they're trying to be proactive by looking at different solutions leading up to their next evaluation.
One of the solutions it's looking into is a county-wide levee where people would be able to contribute to the zoo through a tax base.
The Atascadero Charles Paddock Zoo is up for accreditation in 2014.
