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Daily Voice Leaders: Gregg Dancho Of Bridgeport's Beardsley Zoo

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Gregg Dancho is director of the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, the only accredited zoo in the Nutmeg State. 

Gregg Dancho, director of the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport

Photo Credit: Daily Voice Greater Bridgeport Area

For many, the Beardsley Zoo is a fun place to spend an afternoon, checking out the animals and enjoying the outdoors. But Dancho said the Beardsley Zoo is about much more than that. 

"Our main mission for the zoo is conservation and education, but we also look at recreation and research," Dancho said. "Conservation comes in many forms. ... The one you think of the most is working with endangered species ... and a good two-thirds of our animals here are endangered."

The Beardsley Zoo is home to an amur leopard, which is critically endangered with only 60 left in the wild across the world, for example. 

The zoo, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state, has evolved over the decades as it closes in on its 100th anniversary, which will come in 2022.   

For the full interview with Dancho, click on the video above. 

Click here to see another video story from the Daily Voice on how the animals at the Beardsley Zoo beat the heat. 

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