SALEM — There may be good news after all for Kira the gorilla, Sox the giraffe and Balthazar the French donkey.

They and the rest of the animals at the Franklin Park and Stone zoos are likely to survive the budget ax later this month. State representatives are expected to restore up to $4 million in cuts made by Gov. Deval Patrick for Zoo New England, which runs the popular zoos in Boston and Stoneham.

The organization had said it would have to euthanize some of its 1,000 animals if the cuts stood. Since then, however, both zoo officials and Patrick have claimed the animals' lives were never really in any danger.

At the Statehouse — a place one lawmaker joked has turned into "a three-ring circus" lately — the issue stirred up quite a controversy. CNN, Fox News and other national news outlets ran with the story, and "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien even joked about it in his opening monologue Monday night.

"Zoo officials in Boston recently said if they don't get more government funding, they'll have to kill the animals," said the late-night comedian. "Their exact words were, 'We want $50,000 in unmarked bills or the emperor penguin gets it.'"

In fact, the threat of cuts to the beloved black bear or Caribbean flamingo exhibits seemed to attract even more attention than the budget cuts for services that aid actual people.

"It doesn't really surprise me," state Rep. John Keenan said. "We had more people show up at a hearing for disallowing bullhorn use on elephants than on the death penalty."

"It's like pitting human beings against animals," state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis said. "... We have human beings with really bad issues pertaining to disabilities and mental health issues, and we're not providing funding for them this year."

Still, many North Shore lawmakers said they favor restoring some, if not all, of the cut funding for the zoos, which would require overriding Patrick's veto.

State Rep. Brad Hill, R-Ipswich, said he's received about a dozen phone calls and e-mails on the zoo issue.

"One of the biggest concerns people have is that he's vetoing basically tourism dollars," Hill said. "This is one of those areas where a lot of visitors from outside the state, as well as in-state citizens go and bring their tax dollars with them."

State Reps. Ted Speliotis and Mary Grant said they would wait to get a better picture of the state's finances before deciding whether to restore the zoo funding.

"I'm undecided because I don't know how much money we have," said Speliotis, D-Danvers. "I think the funding has to be there. The question is how to fund it."

Several lawmakers want to see the zoo raise more private funds, and Speliotis suggested the possibility of zoo license plates.

"I know there's been a cut," said Grant, D-Beverly. "There's been a cut everywhere. I think it just has to be weighed with everything else."

All this animal talk among lawmakers didn't surprise Paul Lanzikos, the executive director of North Shore Elder Services, which is facing potential cuts to home care services for senior citizens.

"When we work with our clients," Lanzikos said, "their first concern is that their cat or parakeet is fed before they're fed."

Still, he said he understood that zoo officials have to stand up and advocate for their funding, like any other organization.

"It's not a competition between the zoo and people," Lanzikos said. "... All of us in human services are making our cases, too."

Material from The Associated Press was used in this story.

Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salemnews.com.