Fewer visitors would compound financial problems for the Maryland Zoological Society Inc., which runs the facility with state and local government grants, operating revenues and donations.
News of the accreditation problem could undercut the boost the zoo got with the birth of an elephant calf this month.
"The public will be disappointed to hear the condition that we're in," Kranz said. "They may choose to visit another zoo."
But loss of accreditation, or even its threat, has also led to a rallying of support for zoos, said Palmer Krantz III, executive director of the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, S.C.
Krantz, the AZA board chairman, said the association reviews about 20 zoos twice annually and that about four operations are typically granted one-year extensions to fix problems.
"I've never seen a zoo [granted an extension] that didn't come back better and stronger than they were before," Krantz said.
When Atlanta's zoo lost the association's approval in the 1980s, "the city rebuilt the zoo from the bottom up," he said.
But the Maryland Zoo's chief operating officer said the work and its costs are daunting. "We made progress addressing some of the issues but not all of them," Kranz said.
None of the problems is related to animal care, he said.
One of the biggest issues concerns below-market salaries for entry-level and mid-level employees. The zoo employs about 180 full-time workers and 70 part-time employees, Hutchinson said.
Wages have been an issue at the zoo for years. Workers unionized in 2002 as part of the United Steelworkers of America. Jim Strong, a United Steelworkers district director, said yesterday that the zoo was constantly experiencing turnover because of low wages.
The union, which no longer represents zoo workers, had complained about high salaries of top executives. In 2005, Elizabeth Grieb, then president of the zoo, earned a $205,774 salary. Four other executives made more than $100,000, according to tax records.
AZA accrediting documents state that salaries for all full-time staff members "should be competitive with other related organizations in the local/regional area."
Grieb left in September to spend more time with her family and could not be reached for comment. She was replaced by Hutchinson.
Deteriorating infrastructure and buildings are the other big problems.
