History and Fate of a Troubled Reptile Zoo: The Long Island Reptile Museum

摘要

For the herpetological enthusiast, New York City and the surrounding area are home to many zoological and educational facilities where live reptiles and amphibians can be viewed on public display. In addition to a suite of museums and nature centers, the region is home to several AZA accredited zoological parks and aquariums with living herpetological collections. With the exception of some of the larger zoos, particularly the Bronx, Central Park, and Staten Island Zoos, most of these facilities have maintained relatively small reptile and amphibian collections comprised predominately of native or common pet-trade species. The Long Island Reptile Museum, a for-profit herpetological exhibition which closed in 2004, was unique in this regard, as it displayed an extensive collection of live reptiles and amphibians that rivaled that of many North American zoos at the time, and saw tens of thousands of visitors from the greater metropolitan area each year. These attributes, coupled with a troubled history that may be unfamiliar to herpetological enthusiasts outside of New York, make the Long Island Reptile Museum a noteworthy facility for fanciers and historians of zoo herpetology.