PANAMA CITY BEACH — New animals and exhibits may be on the way for ZooWorld in Panama City Beach, according to a news release issued Monday by the facility’s new owners.
Kayte Wanko, a 15-year zoo veteran and registered agent of Rhynettes LLC, which finalized negotiations to purchase the property in late December, said she intends to run the park as a family business, with facilities upgrades first on the list.
“We fell in love with ZooWorld the moment we saw it. Now we want to polish it up so others will notice its shine, as well,” said Wanko, who is taking over as zoo director. “New animals are a guarantee, but we want to enhance the entire package.”
Family patriarch Robert “Rhyno” Rynette said the zoo business was a natural fit for Wanko and her sister.
“Kayte and her sister, Jes, have both been interested in animals as long as they’ve been alive,” he said. “Kayte used to come home from school with snails in her pockets. It was no surprise when they got involved in the zoo business.”
The 5.4-acre property at 9008 Front Beach Road was quietly put up for sale early last year. Rhynettes LLC purchased the property from ZooWorld Inc. for $900,000, a lower price than its 2014 assessed value of nearly $1.3 million.
ZooWorld originally opened in the mid-’80s as the “Snake-a-Torium” and has remained a fixture on Panama City Beach.
“It is exciting to be a part of something that has so much history here in the local area,” said Wanko, who has previous experience as the manager of Gulf Breeze Zoo. “I’m really looking forward to what the next 30 years has in store for this amazing, little zoo.”
Wanko declined to comment further Monday due to extensive training and cleaning at the park, which was closed over the weekend, but will reopen for regular park hours at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Under its previous owners, ZooWorld operated as a nonprofit organization, but Wanko did not indicate whether the facility would keep its nonprofit status.
According to nonprofit filings with the Internal Revenue Service, ZooWorld posted a net loss of about $75,000 in 2013, with charitable contributions as well as revenue from admissions and sales down from the previous year, while expenses rose.