The Holtsville Wildlife & Ecology Center’s zoo has shut down after 46 years in operation.

Months after allegations of animal mistreatment by former employees and animal rights activists last year came to light, the Brookhaven Town Board voted unanimously to pass its $367.2 million budget last November, requiring the zoo’s closure and was reported to save taxpayers about $2 million.

The decision to close the zoo was budget-motivated, Town of Brookhaven supervisor Dan Panico said last fall, and transfers were scheduled to take place by the end of March.

“The first transfers started happening soon after the new year,” said Dan Losquadro, Brookhaven Highway supervisor, the department overseeing the zoo. “The majority took place late February through March. It’s a process, and there is a lot of paperwork. The Department of Conservation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture were very helpful, and all the facilities the animals went to were licensed and permitted. We made sure filing was done with the required agencies.”

Losquadro added that the zoo’s birds were examined and tested for avian flu, with further exams at the receiving facilities.

“Our staff did a great job, and it was a lot of work,” Losquadro said. “We wanted to make sure they were going to facilities where they would live out their lives. The animals we had could never be released in the wild and had to live out their lives in some sort of captive environment.”

According to Losquadro, some facilities to which the animals were sent included the Bronx Zoo, the Staten Island Zoo, the Queens Zoo, and the Forest Park Zoo in Springfield, Mass., as well as smaller centers. The zoo’s alpaca and llama were placed at the Long Island Yarn and Farm in Yaphank, which produces alpaca and llama wool. And the zoo’s lynx was placed at the Cape May County Park and Zoo.

Losquadro added that other centers receiving animals “had a close relationship” with the Holtsville zoo.

With 130 animals, there was quite an array; Losquadro was asked if there were any that were challenging to place.

“Strangely, the buffalo,” he said. “You would have thought it was a slam dunk. She’s a large animal and eats a lot of food, and I’m speculating it could have had to do with space. But we didn’t have a problem with the steer. It was all a process finding the right fit.”The transfers went fairly smoothly, he said.

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