Caged by financial woes, Boston-area zoos struggle

They weren’t Rhode Islanders, though. No, they were down from Medfield, a suburb of a city with two zoos of its own. Never once did they consider heading to Franklin Park Zoo, just 16 miles from home.

“It wasn’t even a question where we were going,’’ said Kevin Ryder, program coordinator for Medfield Parks and Recreation, who brought the group down Thursday. “Roger Williams Park was, by far, a better option than the ones in Mass. It’s more aesthetically pleasing. You feel like you’re out in the wilderness somewhere.’’

How is it that Boston, a city that considers itself such a cultural mecca - the “Hub of the Universe’’ - can have two zoos that pale in comparison not just to the country’s famous zoos but also to the one in Providence, a city less than one-third its size?

Greater Boston’s two zoos - Franklin Park in the city and Stone Zoo in Stoneham - have been in such dire straits recently that zoo officials have threatened to shut them down if state lawmakers don’t restore $4 million in state funding that was eliminated by Governor Deval Patrick. The Patrick administration has asked zoo officials to come up with a financial plan, strongly suggesting that they raise ticket prices and consider consolidating their two locations, which are just 13 miles apart.

Zoo officials acknowledge they are at a crossroads. The next few months, they say, will determine whether they close for good - and turn their 1,559-animal collection over to the state - or whether they can chart a path toward financial self-reliance and embark on an ambitious improvement plan.

“In all honesty we have a lot of potential yet to reach,’’ said John Linehan, president and chief executive of Zoo New England, which runs both zoos. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’re making progress. But it’s not dramatic progress.’’

Plenty of people say they like, even love, Boston’s main zoo, in Franklin Park. It employs dozens of teenagers from nearby neighborhoods.

“Every year it seems like they’re working on it, making improvements,’’ said Kim Keller, a 42-year-old from Stoughton with three children in tow, who were looking at the giraffes at Franklin Park. “I just can’t understand why they would close this down. They’re doing all the right things.’’

Yet Franklin Park can feel as though it hasn’t changed much from the 1980s, when it was twice named among the worst in the country by Parade magazine.

On a recent afternoon, mothers pushed strollers and fathers hoisted up children for a closer look at premier exhibits, namely the gorillas inside the Tropical Forest. But some of the exhibit displays look tired, the habitats are often uninspiring, and in places animals are visible only through a chain-link fence.

The poster-board for some of the displays is falling apart; letters on some signs have faded. Some enclosures are smudged to the point that the animals are hard to see.

Meanwhile, at the zoo in Providence, display cases are clean and well-lit. Animals look to be in more inviting habitats, with lots of room to maneuver. Walls are made of low-lying bamboo or glass, making the animals easy to see.

The differences between Boston and Providence are perhaps best illustrated by a single animal that both zoos feature on the cover of their brochures - the giraffe.

In Providence, there are four giraffes roaming around, with specialists standing by to show children the size of a giraffe tongue (18 inches) and one of its vertebrae. In the afternoon, zoo workers place food near the perimeter so the giraffes come close. Nearby is a pavilion where visitors can see giraffes and elephants as they are treated and bathed by zoo staff. A video plays in the background of a giraffe born last year, and its attempted first steps.

Franklin Park had three giraffes in a largely bare field, enclosed by a wire fence. There is a machine where visitors can get a better view for a quarter. A model of the giraffe vertebrae is on a nearby display board, but many visitors seem to walk past without noticing.

The zoo in Providence, owned by the city but operated by a zoological society, has an $8 million budget this year, and averages about 625,000 visitors a year. About 40 percent of its budget comes from admission prices, concessions, and education program fees. The rest of its revenue is evenly divided between fund-raising and the city budget.

The zoo, which has expanded over the years, is in the midst of a $35 million capital campaign that will add a new veterinarian center, a children’s wing, and bring back polar bears. About 40 percent of visitors come from Massachusetts, according to the zoo’s executive director, Jack Mulvena.

Zoo New England has an annual budget of about $11 million. Stone Zoo, which had 226,500 visitors last fiscal year, accounts for roughly 22 percent of the total budget. Franklin Park, which had 342,300 visitors, is considered the flagship and absorbs the rest of the budget, although some management costs overlap.

The Boston-area zoos are in the final stages of writing a new five- to seven-year strategic plan that aims to make them less dependent on state revenues and liven up the exhibits. The zoos are also trying to increase efforts to cater more birthday parties and private events.

The entire plan, which Linehan wants to finish writing within the next two months, would cost about $53 million to implement. The Legislature has signed off on $30 million in state bond money, but that would only be spent if the governor decides to.

“It’s going to take a major capital infusion,’’ Linehan said. “We need to get people coming in here in bigger numbers. Truly, we’re at half of what we could be doing when you compare us with other zoos in major cities.’’

The San Diego Zoo, often cited as the country’s best, had a budget of $175 million in 2007. The Columbus Zoo in Ohio has more than 7,000 animals, along with a water park, amusement park, and a golf resort. Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle had a $28.3 million budget last year and recently opened a new, $6.5 million Humboldt Penguin exhibit.

At Franklin Park, some improvements are in the works, but they are just temporary: The producers of the movie “Zookeeper,’’ starring Kevin James, are building a fake zoo inside the real zoo.

“I wish they could make it real, and just leave it,’’ said one onlooker.

Linehan said the movie producers had to reconstruct the zoo to meet specifications in the movie script. When asked whether animals from Franklin Park would be in the movie, he said, “I probably shouldn’t say. I think our animals will be some of the background, anyways.’’

Still, many visitors to Franklin Park are satisfied with what they get.

“I expect Boston to have something bigger,’’ said Gabriel Freed, a 21-year-old college student. “But it’s fine. It has everything I wanted to see. Except a rhinoceros.’’

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.