Detroit Zoo rescues 61 animals after sudden closure on Bat Zone in Pontiac

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Detroit Zoo will provide a home for 61 animals displaced by the sudden closure of a facility in Pontiac this month.

Pontiac's Bat Zone suddenly closed this month due to lack of funding. Local 4's Paula Tutman covered the story earlier this month.

Fifty-four bats of three species – straw-colored fruit bats, short-tailed fruit bats and Jamaican fruit bats – as well as five southern flying squirrels, a Linnea’s two-toed sloth and a Cranwell’s horned frog are being moved to DZS facilities in the coming days.

“This is an unfortunate situation and we are doing everything we can to assist them in placing animals with facilities capable of ensuring their lifetime care, including taking in more than 60 of the animals at the Detroit Zoo,” said Dr. Randi Meyerson, deputy chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society.

The animals will be under quarantine for at least 30 days before moving to mostly behind-the-scenes areas of the Zoo.