Growing the Wild
Jessica Hart is guiding ZooMontana’s next chapter
When Jessica Hart, the executive director of ZooMontana, talks about the zoo, she uses the words “home,” “family,” and “community.” Sure, the zoo is home to more than 50 species of animals, but for Jessica, it’s more than tigers, bears, a sloth, and a pen of playful red pandas. It’s how ZooMontana opens its gates every day, providing a warm welcome to visitors from across the region.
“ZooMontana is a community for all our staff, and it’s a place for our community,” Jessica says. “I hope visitors find that sense of home we have here. The zoo brings a lot of people together.”
Jessica came to ZooMontana in 2020 as an events coordinator, but soon was promoted to chief operations officer, working alongside former ZooMontana Executive Director Jeff Ewelt. While Jeff was the one in the spotlight, Jessica focused her attention on building organizational structure and enhancing workplace culture. In 2023, Jeff suggested they begin working on a succession plan. It was a preparedness measure that checked an important organizational box. The plan was finalized in 2024, and that’s when Jessica was tagged for the interim executive director role.
“It was decided that if something were to happen, I would be the person,” Jessica says.
And then something did happen. Jeff took a job at a zoo in Nebraska. It left Jessica suddenly in the role of interim executive director.
“I think he knew in the back of his mind what he was going to do and planted a seed in me,” Jessica says.
That was in February 2024, and when the opportunity to apply to be the permanent executive director came, she knew it was what she’d come to ZooMontana to do. She stepped into the role of executive director in August last year.
“I always knew I was meant to work with people and help them find their thing,” she says. “I never knew I would be running a zoo, but I’m happy to be here.”
As often as she can, Jessica takes a break and walks the zoo grounds and chats with visitors. When she has only a few minutes to take a break, she visits the animals in the indoor exhibits, just outside her office. Sydney, the kookaburra, recognizes her and greets her with a loud call.
“She’s her own bird,” Jessica says. “I don’t know what we’d do if we didn’t have Sydney.”
ZooMontana sits on a 72-acre footprint, and today, only 35 acres are developed. There’s plenty of room to grow, but Jessica is focused on intentional and timely steps.
“I want us to grow. We’re in the teenage stage when it comes to the zoo realm,” Jessica says. “We want to continue to grow in a beautiful way.”
ZooMontana is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). It is a rigorous accreditation process, but the layout and design of ZooMontana is already ahead of the curve compared to other zoos.
“AZA is trying to move zoos toward more natural habitats, like the ones we have already at ZooMontana,” Jessica says.
ZooMontana has always had a focus on animals from the 45th parallel, so all the animals in the collection are accustomed to the climate in Billings.
“It helps our animals be able to stay outside for the majority of the days of their lives,” Jessica says.
A recent surprise arrival of two juvenile bobcats has Jessica and the staff at ZooMontana buzzing.
“I went to Montana State, and I cheered for the Cats. Of course I wanted to have bobcats,” Jessica says, adding that the bobcats will complement the grizzlies already at the zoo, a play on Montana’s classic rivalry between the University of Montana’s Grizzlies and Montana State’s Bobcats.
The two bobcat kittens were found when they were very young and turned over to Montana Wild, a rehabilitation center run by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. The mission of the organization is to return animals to the wild, but in the case of these two bobcats, returning them to the wild wasn’t an option. They had become habituated to their human keepers.
Fierca the lynx, a longtime ZooMontana ambassador, is older and nearing the end of her life. She’s no longer on exhibit, and with some updates, her enclosure could be used to house the bobcats when she passes. But for now, they’re in a temporary habitat as they become accustomed to their new caretakers and life at ZooMontana.
“Fierca was an ambassador for ZooMontana for many years, but she’s a homebody now,” Jessica says.
Jessica tries to make time every day to sit with the bobcats in their enclosure. She wants them to know her and trust her in hopes that they will step into an ambassador role someday, and Jessica will be able take them to schools and events.
“It’s just so they know who I am in case I have the chance to take them out some time,” she says.
The latest capital project is the Wild and Well Animal Health Center, an onsite veterinary clinic for zoo animals. Currently, animals need to be transported out of the zoo for vet care and the logistics of moving zoo animals and impact to the animals is substantial. The Wild and Well Animal Health Center will eliminate those concerns and also pave the way for increasing the number of animals the zoo can have.
One of the initiatives that Jessica took on in her years as COO and plans to continue is developing a strong, positive workplace culture.
There are between 30 and 40 employees, depending on time of year, a few interns and hundreds of volunteers. In addition to the animals at ZooMontana, there are 10 gardens, including a botanical park, that are all tended by volunteers.
“The place looks the way that it does because of them,” Jessica says.
As a Billings native, Jessica has been to ZooMontana so many times over the years that she can’t recall her first visit. This place had just always been a part of her life. Now as a married mom of two boys, 8 and 4, her sones now know their way around as if it were their neighborhood.
“It has been a really cool experience to have my kids grow up in this space,” she says.
Jessica knows she’s following in big footsteps. Jeff, known as Jeff the Nature Guy, was a dynamic and visible fixture at the zoo and in the community. Jessica is determined to keep that energy alive at ZooMontana.
“We miss him dearly,” Jessica says, “but he’s just a text or phone call away if I need him.”
While Jessica admits that she never would have thought she’d be running a zoo, she’s grateful to be able to step in at a time when visitor numbers and community support are on the rise.
“I’m always surprised when I hear people from Billings and Yellowstone County say they didn’t know there was a zoo here,” Jessica says. “I want them to know there’s a zoo here, but I also want people across the state to know there’s a zoo here for them, too. This is their zoo too.”
VISIT ZOOMONTANA online at zoomontana.org, or in real life at 2100 S. Shiloh Rd. Winter hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
