A Beloved Minnesota Zoo Says This Could Be Its Last Year

Across the country, the small, family-run roadside zoo is becoming an endangered species.

These are the modest, lovingly built attractions where a kid meets their first camel and a family fills a summer afternoon without booking a flight — and one by one, many of them have been quietly closing their gates as costs climb and crowds thin.

Now that worry has landed in Minnesota's Otter Tail County.

Trowbridge Creek Zoo sits on County Highway 17 just outside Vergas, where Dustin and Rachel Ebersviller opened the gates back in 2016. Both grew up on dairy farms, and Dustin has spent more than 25 years raising domesticated and exotic animals.

The result is a genuine hidden gem in Minnesota, home to camels, zebras, lemurs, capybaras, alligators, ostriches, deer and more.

This week, the family shared difficult news. In a heartfelt Facebook post, the owners told followers that this could be the last summer for the zoo they built. The reason is one that small operators everywhere will recognize: attendance has been sliding for several years, and the math has simply stopped working.

A Short Season Carries a Full Year

A major issue is that the zoo is open only about 100 to 110 days a year, yet the animals need care, food and shelter for all 365.

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That roughly three-month window has to generate enough to cover everything that follows, and the owners say the pressure to be perfect every day while making improvements they can't afford has become too much to carry.

It also helps to picture what "running a zoo" really means for two people. The Ebersvillers noted that they act as keepers, cleaners, maintenance crew, groundskeepers, plumbers, pest control, fence builders, social media managers, public relations, bookkeepers, part-time mechanics and, as one supporter added online, "everything and anything else not listed." That is a dozen full-time jobs wearing one family's name.

The Community Is Answering the Call

However, the story hasn't ended on a sad note, and that's the part worth leaning into. Since the announcement, neighbors and longtime visitors have rallied around the zoo, showing up, sharing the post, and reminding the owners why they opened in the first place.

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When the family asked what the public could do to help, the answer was simple: keep coming through the gate.

As for the animals, the owners want to ease those fears too. If the zoo does close, some animals would stay with the family, while most would be relocated to other licensed facilities equipped to care for them.

Why a Little Zoo Is Worth Saving

Places like Trowbridge Creek Zoo are the kind of small, personal attraction that make a summer in small-town Minnesota feel bigger than it is. They don't survive on grants or gift shops alone; they survive on us actually showing up.

You'll find the zoo at 50622 County Highway 17 in Vergas, and if this is a spot that ever gave your family a good afternoon, the next few weekends are the ones that matter. Sometimes saving something you love is as easy as buying a ticket and walking in.