Santa Fe Zoo fundraiser helps provide student scholarships

Live music, beer, and a walk through the zoo attracted many people to the Santa Fe Teaching zoo for their first Ken and Drew rock the zoo fundraiser.

The fundraiser showcased local live music and a rare look at zoo life.

Jonathan Miot the Director of the teaching zoo explained, "it's a little bit later than you would normally come through the zoo so you'll see some of the animals being fed, some interactions with the zookeepers. We'll bring some animals out so you can interact with them as well, we'll have keepers giving talks so we've got a lot going on today."

The money raised will go towards improving guest experiences and making sure students can continue to follow their dreams said Miot.

"We're going to create beautiful exhibits with some of the funds collected here, we're also going to send some of the funds to scholarships for our students and other students at Santa Fe."

TJ Brown is a Singer/SOngwriter for the Browns Band who performed at the event. He said the opportunity to play was one he couldn't pass up. "To be a part of something that's going to a good cause like I said my 6-year-old and I we've been coming to the zoo ever since he was 2. I mean we love coming here, the monkeys are our favorite especially when they're calling and howling and stuff."

Organizers say they want to hold similar style events in the future as well.

"We're going to look at how it goes and then decide if we're going to hold it again. Some of it will depend on the guests and whether they enjoyed it and some will depend on our ability to pull this off again."

As to what new animal exhibits could be on the way, Miot says zoo staff aren't ready to release details but there are plans to continue adding to the zoo experience.