Moapa zoo gets another chance to stay alive

Roos-N-More is getting another chance to convince the Clark County Commission it shouldn't be forced to close.

The commissioners rejected the private Moapa zoo's request for a special use permit Wednesday and the zoo's operators were ordered to prepare to dismantle the 9-acre attraction. The zoo is run by husband-and-wife veterinarians Jay and Valerie Holt.

But on Friday Commissioner Mary Beth Scow requested the commission revisit the matter at its Sept. 2 meeting.

"I felt uncomfortable at the end of that meeting knowing that a lot of community resources had been put into that," Scow said.

"There were so many concerns with it during the meeting and we kind of had a hard time grappling with it so I thought doing it without allowing it to come back was just harsh."

If commissioners remain unconvinced, the zoo will have to move its roughly 280 exotic animals to another home.

The zoo has been under scrutiny and closed to the public since January 2014 after a county inspection identified several code violations, including a lack of flush toilets or commercial septic system.

None of the problems concerned the care or condition of the animals, which include camels, kangaroos, lemurs, monkeys, otters and porcupines.

A few weeks later, county officials agreed to let private tours resume at Roos-N-More while a new restroom facility and other improvements were made to accommodate larger crowds.

Valerie Holt has said they have spent more than $300,000 over the past 18 months to bring the zoo up to county code. Much of that money was raised during a single well-attended fundraiser in 2014 hosted by Zappos at its downtown Las Vegas headquarters.

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes.