Utica Zoo reveals its new preZoodent. See which animal will rule the zoo this year.

Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch
·3 min read

Democracy has overtaken the animal kingdom. At least at the Utica Zoo.

Tate, the Pallas’s cat, won a demo-cat-ic election to become the second preZOOdent, zoo officials announced Tuesday. He captured the lion’s share of the vote, 221 out of 652 cast.

Dooku, the white-handed gibbon came up empty handed, coming in second, with 156 votes, to Tate and his aggressive election-ear-ing. Still, that may be the highest a gibbon has ever climbed in politics.

Tate the Pallas's cat has been elected preZOOdent of the Utica Zoo. He succeeds Mei Lin the red panda, the zoo's first preZOOdent.
Tate the Pallas's cat has been elected preZOOdent of the Utica Zoo. He succeeds Mei Lin the red panda, the zoo's first preZOOdent.

Briar, the river otter, swam into third place, Furlow, the Bactrian camel, hoofed his way into fourth place and Boomer, the ostrich, landed in fifth place.

PreZOOdent Tate, who turns seven next month, will take over the preZOOdency from Mei Lin the red panda who was elected a year ago. 

The new preZOOdent’s duties will no doubt include fur-eign policy, claws enforcement and giving the Tate of the Union address. But most importantly, zoo officials said, Tate will be an ambassador for zoos, sharing the message of the important role they play in protecting species in the wild.

And the election helped the zoo raise both money (just over $1,000) and interest during the winter.

“The idea was created as a way to engage the community during a time that visitor attendance is generally lower due to the colder weather,” Allie Snyder, director of communications and engagement, said in a statement. “It was a chance for our staff to share some of the animals’ personalities in a fun and quirky way, and share some of their traits that visitors may not see normally.”

Here are the results of the Utica Zoo's second annual election to choose a preZOOdent.
Here are the results of the Utica Zoo's second annual election to choose a preZOOdent.

Buying a vote

Over the past month, zoo staff have shared updates on the five candidates, each of whom represented a different section of the zoo. The public could vote with their wallets; every $10 donation bought five votes for the candidate of the donor’s choice.

Zoo visitors were also able to vote in person over Presidents’ Day weekend.

Pallas’s cats

Tate was born in Utah in 2017 at the Hogle Zoo and moved to Utica in 2019.

In the wild, Pallas’s cats like Tate live in the cold, high elevations of the steppes and grasslands of central Asia, according to Tate’s page on the zoo website. They average about 6.7 pounds in weight, and grow to 1 to 1.2 feet tall and between 1.5 and 2.2 feet long, living for around 8.7 years on average.

More: Utica Zoo welcomes a new furry friend: Khairo the red panda

More: Utica Zoo loses two habitat mates of different causes in same week

Although Tate may be good at running for office, he is not actually good at running. Pallas’s cats are too short and stocky for speed, hunting through ambush rather than chase. Utica’s winters don’t bother Tate; Pallas’s cats have the densest fur of any cat species. Their vocalizations sound more like a dog, although they do purr.

Tate, a Pallas's cat, will continue to greet visitors to the Utica Zoo even after having been elected the preZOOdent for 2024.
Tate, a Pallas's cat, will continue to greet visitors to the Utica Zoo even after having been elected the preZOOdent for 2024.

The four losing candidates have not shown any sign of hard felines toward Tate who, despite his lofty new position, continues to see visitors daily. If you pass by the White House, er, the Pallas exhibit at the zoo, be sure to give Tate a round of ap-paws.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Best beast wins election at Utica Zoo to become next preZOOdent