Zoos lack funds to inspire Obama's future scientists

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Science class for a group of 12-year-old New Yorkers frequently means a day at the zoo, petting a monitor lizard, laughing at infant gorillas as they wrestle or seeing how a giant rock python hunts in the dark.

"I love animals and it's fun," said Marquis Palmer, 12.

"If nobody cared about animals they would all be dead. Plus, we wouldn't really have anything to eat," he said, with a mischievous grin, explaining why he loves science during a recent scavenger hunt at the Bronx Zoo's Congo exhibit.

A new report by the National Academy of Sciences said informal learning -- such as at zoos or just while fishing or gardening -- is a powerful tool in science education.

Newly inaugurated President Barack Obama has pledged to "restore science to its rightful place" and educate a new generation of scientists able to transform America into an environmentally sustainable "green economy."

But with endowments and private donations falling and public funds under pressure, the recession is making it harder for zoos and aquariums to keep inspiring kids in science.

Palmer was among a dozen children from the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation, located in a struggling area of the New York borough of the Bronx, who crowded up against a glass partition to watch a pair of young gorillas during a visit last month to the Bronx Zoo.

One girl imitated a gorilla, others tapped on the glass, others called: "Can I take one home?" or "Fight, fight."

Later they returned to a classroom at the zoo to discuss their science project to design an exhibit for a zoo animal.

The wildlife school is one of 20 themed academies created to replace underperforming schools in New York. It has close links to the nearby Bronx Zoo and offers children twice the normal amount of science classes, focusing on conservation.

WALL STREET FALLOUT

But New York State, facing a $15.4 billion budget gap, is proposing to eliminate the $9 million it gives 76 zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens next year.

The governor had also proposed cutting the funding by 55 percent this year, but that is expected to be rejected by state legislators this week after intense lobbying by zoos.

Jeffrey Gordon, budget spokesman for the governor's office, said the cut was one of many difficult choices, including cuts in spending on healthcare, education and economic development.

"New York depends very heavily on Wall Street for its revenues," he said, pointing to the sharp fall in tax revenues as the financial sector has been rocked by crisis.