A life-long love and mission
Gregg Dancho started volunteering at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport in 1975, while still in high school in Stratford.
“I loved animals, and I wanted to work with them” he said. “My particular love was reptiles, but I could only keep so many reptiles at my house.”
In 1980, Dancho became a full-time employee of the zoo, then owned by the city of Bridgeport, and a few years later he was named as its acting director and then director.
He said running a zoo is a great job for a lover of animals and the environment, such as himself.
“I have tremendous respect for what we try to do here,” he said. “We try to provide guests with a quality and educational experience and hopefully impact kids so they’ll say, ‘This is important.’”
Dancho does have concerns about the future of the natural world, which sometimes may appear threatened by the human push for progress. “Some people think energy and jobs are more important than our environment,” he said.
In addition to its education, conservation, research and recreation roles, Dancho said Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo — now a private, nonprofit operation — has been good for economic development and job growth in Bridgeport and the surrounding region. It is the state’s only accredited zoo.
Dancho has been frustrated at times, when ambitious ideas — there’s been many through the years, including a jaguar exhibit — have not come to fruition due to funding challenges. But numerous new projects and upgrades have happened during his tenure.
“Things move slower than you want with projects due to funding, but it’s never dull or boring,” he said. “In fact, it’s never the same old day.”
He’s proud of all the progress that’s been made at the zoo during the past three decades.
“It’s a place that is always exciting, always changing, and always different,” he said. “And I still get a kick out of talking with kids”
Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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