The Midland city council unanimously approved an ordinance to amend the zoning district map, granting a specific use designation without term for a 4.352-acre tract of land out of Tract 4, Parker Acres Addition, during the May 14 city council meeting. The land, located on the west side of Todd Drive, 420 feet south of East Golf Course Road, is currently zoned AE (Agricultural Estate District). The amendment allows the property to be used for a wildlife rehabilitation center for Zoo Midland.
Zoo Midland Project Coordinator Charles Harrington informed the council that the center will be used to house animals to ensure they are healthy and ready to be moved to their habitat. The rehabilitation center will cover 4,331 square feet, including a 1,946-square-foot outdoor pen and a 12,000-square-foot exterior yard. An 8-foot chain link fence will surround the facility, which will also include a greenhouse and a storage building.
Approximately 10% of zoos in the U.S. are accredited to operate a wildlife rehabilitation center, according to Greenwood Wildlife. Accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) indicates that the zoo meets high standards of animal care.
According to AZA, rehabilitation centers can include animals that have participated in "headstart" programs, where they receive early life care to improve survival chances, animals rehabilitated from illness or injury, those relocated for release in a new area, or offspring of animals that have been cared for over multiple generations by AZA-accredited institutions.