Holding photos of animals they say died in agony or were otherwise mistreated at the Austin Zoo, a group of more than a dozen ex-zookeepers, former board members and their allies lined the road to the zoo’s entrance Sunday. Their goal: To intercept zoo visitors on a busy spring break weekend and draw attention to recent controversy surrounding the zoo.

Some drivers waved. A couple gave a thumbs-up. One flipped off the protesters. Several pulled over and asked for more information on what was happening.

The protest came after six zookeepers last summer wrote a letter to the zoo’s board detailing problems they saw with animal care and management. They later said the board did little but sit by as the zookeepers dealt with retaliation for writing it. The American-Statesman in January published a story based on the accounts of 24 current and former employees who were largely consistent in describing unorthodox animal care techniques, an unwillingness to euthanize suffering animals and acts of retaliation against keepers who shared concerns.

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The zoo has faced a backlash since the story. Last week it announced a board shake-up that included four new members. Moreover, the zoo's executive director, Patti Clark, would no longer also serve as president of the board — a key demand of the keepers, who said the dual roles prevented adequate checks and balances.

But the changes didn’t satisfy former zookeepers, who considered the new board members too close to Clark, who maintains her role as director. The previous board members remain in place. The new members include a zoo donor and two former zoo vendors. Bernie Tejada, the new board chairman, did not return the Statesman's calls to discuss the changes.

“I’m glad y’all are doing this,” said one neighbor who drove by the protest Sunday, rolling down her window to say she’d been following the zoo controversy and supported the ex-employees.

A second protest is scheduled for Thursday.

Kathy Turney, a former director of PAWS shelter who served on the zoo’s board for about seven years, said she was shocked to read about the allegations of animal mistreatment — but not surprised by the stories of dismissive, heavy-handed management. Now she’s standing with the keepers who raised complaints and participated in the protest, which she called a success.

“We had a lot of questions from people driving by, a lot of interest,” she said. “These are all people dedicated to the animals, and hopefully it brings public awareness.”

Chelsea Vogus read about the problems at the zoo and came out with her friend, Sarah Bustillos, to join the protest. Vogus said she has worked at several animal sanctuaries and was involved with a similar controversy at a facility in New Jersey.

“Believing the former employees and whistleblowers is super important,” she said.

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Jesse Pottebaum, deputy director of animal care for the zoo, said the zoo was prepared for the protest with extra security guards and noted that lines to get in remained long in spite of it. Pottebaum, who was hired after the zookeepers’ letter to the board, said the zoo has had no issues with animal care protocol since he started and said any animal care concerns were in the past.

“They wanted change; they got change,” he said of the keepers. “We hear them, and their voices have been heard.”

He defended the firing of three zookeepers last month who were questioned, or refused questions, about their roles in the Statesman story. Two were fired for performance delinquencies after he’d written them up multiple times, he said, and the third — Kris Ledoux, who was quoted in the story and was at Sunday's protest — was insubordinate in refusing to answer questions about the story without her attorney present.

He also defended Clark, saying zoo critics need to “focus on the positive” as the facility moves forward.

“The zoo was in negative dividends (before Clark took over in 2007), and now it is revenue-producing,” he said. “Those are the positives they need to focus on with Patti. She’s brought the zoo back from near extinction.”