Rosamond Gifford Zoo Now Features Free Sunscreen Dispensers

Take that, skin cancer! Thanks to a number of Central New York organizations, safety plays an even bigger part in a family's trip to the zoo.

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo now features three sunscreen dispensers that have been placed throughout the zoo to help protect visitors against skin cancer... and at no cost to guests. The bright yellow dispensers will be filled with SPF30 sunscreen and are located at the entrance to the zoo's courtyard, near the snow leopard exhibit and at the tiger pavilion.

Funding for the project came from a grant from the New York State Department of Health and The Upstate Foundation. The Upstate Cancer Center then donated the dispensers, which Matthew Capogreco from UCC assures will just be the start of the partnership between the zoo and the health center.

“Our partnership with the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is ideal and we are grateful for their role in the success of this project,” Capogreco said in a press release on the Rosamond Gifford Zoo's Facebook page.

He also said Upstate Cancer Center will be providing the zoo with sunscreen to fill the dispensers "for years to come" and that there are hopes to add more dispensers in different locations.

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo has remained vigilant about its safety standards throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It reopened to the public in May with new regulations that are still in place. Guests must reserve their tickets online in advance, and there is a limit of 500 tickets sold every day. Visitors have to wear face masks and social distance from other parties at all times, while also following the zoo's new one-way traffic markings.