National Zoo to split with longtime partner FONZ Michael Ruane The National Zoo said Thursday that after 63 years it is severing its relationship with its longtime nonprofit partner, Friends of the National Zoo. The action is being taken as the zoo faces an estimated $15 million budget shortfall due to the coronavirus, which has kept the Smithsonian landmark in Washington closed for much of the past year. FONZ, which has also been financially slammed by the virus, will have to vacate its offices at the zoo, on Connecticut Avenue, and its members will be offered memberships in a similar program run by the zoo.