Safari Africa Columbus Zoo Update 7-28-13

New Safari Africa building behind the bear.

Safari Africa will be the Columbus Zoo’s most ambitious and expansive region to date and will evoke the real world experience of an African safari. 43 acres will be transformed into a thrilling savanna where zebras and giraffes will roam and animal expert Jack Hanna will be your “virtual” tour guide. The area will feature a village plaza where African culture comes to life through crafts, performances, and food. Up-close animal encounters the whole family can enjoy will include giraffe feeding, cheetah runs, and camel rides.

The Columbus Zoo recently released a few videos on YouTube with some additional information about Safari Africa. At the beginning of July the very first animals who will be roaming the savannah arrived at the zoo. The mixed species habitat will include ten Thompson gazelles, including these two little ones:


Here's an older video from May but it shows some behind the scenes construction on the new African lion exhibit (anyone have any idea what is going to go in the old lion enclosure? The clouded leopards maybe?):


And finally we get a glimpse of the savannah itself and an interactive termite mound that will reside there.


I visited the zoo today and noticed several new buildings in Safari Africa are now visible from a couple of different vantage points. The biggest building can be seen to your left before entering the Polar Frontier region and appears to be the new dining facility.

New Safari Africa building, probably for dining.

The grand opening of Safari Africa at the Columbus Zoo is in summer 2014 - less than a year away!

Zoo Design: PGAV Destinations Interview

The Season Pass Podcast recently posted a great interview with PGAV Destinations - a themed entertainment design firm that has worked on numerous theme park, zoos, aquarium, and science center projects. They're currently working on Safari Africa at the Columbus Zoo. The main focus of the interview is their relationship with the Busch (now SeaWorld Entertainment) parks. Some of the topics they touched on in their hour long discussion:

• How they helped rebrand Six Flags as Discovery Kingdom
• Georgia Aquarium exhibits use projections
• The perfect picture location on the Manta coaster at Sea World Orlando
• Mixing guests, rides, and animals
• The challenges of building within Sea World San Diego ‘s40 foot height limit
• Designing ”mail box moments” (or Facebook moments)
• An awesome photo opportunity at the lion exhibit in Busch Gardens Tampa
• Glacier Run at Louisville Zoo

Click here to check it out now. If you have any interest in zoo design you should definitely give this a listen!

Manta Ray at the Atlantis Resort

 

While on a recent cruise on the Disney Dream we had the opportunity to explore the incredible Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The Dig is a series of aquariums located beneath the main lobby and spread throughout the resort. Unlike other aquarium attractions, there is no central building with a roof. Most of the fish tanks are open air and sit directly under the brilliant Bahamian sun. The Dig is also highly themed to the ruins of the Lost City of Atlantis. Notable species found here include angel fish, eels, sea turtles, jellyfish, and hammerhead sharks.

 

 

One of the larger exhibits, dubbed “The Predator Lagoon,” features a 100 foot long clear acrylic underwater tunnel passing through a tank of sawfishes, sharks, stingrays, and barracudas. It’s very similar to the one found at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. The entrance is in the middle of this giant sea star themed building that also houses a restaurant.

Of course, the marquee animal currently on display is the magnificent Manta Ray. Atlantis is one of only four aquariums in the world to house manta rays. Our tour guide said this ray is just a baby which was quite surprising to hear because its wingspan was over ten feet across! The pictures do not do it justice - this guy was huge! Mantas use the fins on the side of their heads to help channel food into their mouths.

 

 

Unfortunately, we did not get to see the dolphin and sea lion area, which is on the opposite side of the resort. The dolphins are also kept in an open air exhibit and for an exuberant fee you can swim and interact with them. Our tour was only $30 a person and included transportation from the port to the resort and back. I was under the impression the resort is broken up into different areas requiring different tickets to get into but we were pretty much free to walk around wherever we liked, including the breathtaking beach with its amazing, crystal clear water.

 

Check out my video montage of the Atlantis resort and the manta ray below!
 

Monterey Bay Aquarium added to CityPass

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been added to San Francisco's CITYPass. Get unlimited rides on the cable car and admission on four different attractions, including Monterey Bay Aquarium! Now it's easier than ever to visit one of the world's best aquariums, and my personal favorite. To celebrate, they've put together some interesting facts about the aquarium into an info-graph, pictured below.

Read more about CITYPass here.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies Review

While visiting Dollywood, Gatlinburg. and the Smoky Mountains this past weekend my wife and I decided to do something we have never done: check out Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. This was the third year in a row we have visited Gatlinburg and, although we’d taken pictures outside of it every trip, we had never actually went inside the aquarium. Well, the weather wasn’t that great and it was colder than usual out so we figured it was the perfect time to see what the aquarium had to offer (and it promised to be nice and warm inside)!

There is a sign outside advertising it as “America’s #1 Aquarium.” I’ve never been there but I’ve always assume the Georgia Aquarium to be the best, followed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which we did visit last July and it was awesome). I wouldn’t rate Ripleys the number one aquarium but it was slightly better than I expected it to be and is a good option if you’re looking for an hour or two of entertainment and discovery.

The aquarium features many exhibits divided up into themed regions but the main attraction is the Shark Lagoon. Guests stand on a motorized walkway that carries them through a semi-circular tube in a U-shaped layout through a giant tank filled with nurse sharks and sawfish. The cool thing about it too is that not only do you get a great 180 degree underwater, you can also go above the tank and appear straight down into it from a variety of angles enabling you to watch the sharks fins pierce the water ala jaws. There is also a creepy/mysterious soundtrack playing in the background (all the background music is done really well here).

While the Shark Lagoon is an outstanding exhibit, the Aquarium of the Smokies as a whole lacks that one unique, marquee animal that they can hang their hat on. For example, Monterey Bay has sea otters and the Georgia Aquarium has whale sharks. Beyond the Shark Lagoon, there are really no imaginative tank designs (unlike Monterey Bay, which had several stunning designs). As an adult I did find enjoyment in visiting the Gatlinburg aquarium but it is really geared more towards kids. In the end, the aquarium is slightly overpriced (AAA members get a $1 off discount per ticket) but is a much better value than most of the other overpriced tourist traps in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

Columbus Zoo Update March 2013

We took a trip to the Columbus Zoo on Saturday, March 9th to see what was going on and if anything was new. In the latest edition of the Beastly Banner, the zoo president and CEO Tom Stalf said "We are moving to Phase II of the Safari Africa construction project. I was impressed with the 60 large trees that were planted throughout the area. This process happened in just a few days and it really transformed the area. The completion of the area will be in the summer of 2014. Giraffes, zebras, and lions will be some of the featured animals." At this point none of the Safari Africa construction can be seen from inside the zoo, other than mounds of dirt, markers, and construction equipment. The construction is going on right behind the grizzly bear enclosure.

Tom also talked about the zoo's 2013 plans in the magazine: "In honor of Jack, we are excited to provide a dinosaur experience. Enjoy walking through the Jurassic era and come face-to-face with these amazing creatures. This exhibit will also include our boat ride tour as you travel by many dinosaurs, ranging from the size of your hand to our T-rex that is larger than a city bus!" The dinosaurs are going to be found in the Islands of Southeast Asia region of the zoo. While visiting the zoo I spotted numerous red and yellow flags in the ground which I suspect are the future locations of the dinosaurs and I snapped a few pictures (seen below).

A couple other of my own notes and observations:

• All three polar bears were out in the yard and playing, the first time I have seen all three at once.
• It looks like a new cage was added to the bat exhibit in Asia Quest to separate some of the bat species.
• A new Colobus monkey was born at the zoo recently but, of course, is not on public display yet.

Enjoy our pictures from the Columbus Zoo!

Columbus Zoo possible early Dinosaur exhibit construction (I believe the placement of the flags is where the animatronic dinos will be):

 

Zoo Tails Year in Review 2012

It’s time to look back and reflect on Zoo Tails’ 2012 Year in Review. We were able to visit quite a few different zoos and aquariums across the country with some brand new to us places too!

Zoos and Aquariums I visited in 2012:

• Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
• ZooAmerica (next to HersheyPark)
• Marine Mammal Center near San Francisco (not a zoo or aquarium but thought I would include it anyways)
• Monterrey Bay Aquarium
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot

Zoo Tails Highlights of 2012

We’re lovers of animals of all shapes and sizes, whether they are in captivity or not. Some of our favorite moments and highlights from 2012 here:

• Seeing Jack Jack Hannah at the Columbus Zoo for the first time
• Checking out the new Stingray Bay attraction
• Safari Africa construction finally underway
• Seeing sea otters in captivity and in the wild
• Whale watching in San Francisco and spotting a blue whale
• Fantastic interview with Stacey Tarpley about zoo design

Zoo Tails Most Popular Posts of 2012

Our most read posts from the past year are:

1. Columbus Zoo Safari Africa expansion plans revealed
2. Playmobile Zoo Model 
3. Stingray Bay Update
4. How to draw zoo animals step by step
5. Woodland park zoo map 2009
   

Looking Ahead to 2013

In 2013, we’re looking forward to the continuing construction of Safari Africa at the Columbus Zoo along with any other new updates this coming year. In terms of trips, I’d love to be able to go back to Disney again, or even go to Disneyland in California and also hit the San Diego Zoo (it’s been six years since my first visit). Oh, I almost forgot, SeaWorld Orlando is building their largest expansion in history, Antarctica: World of the Penguin which is going to feature a new “trackless” ride experience and an up close encounter with penguins.  I’d like to check that out along with Discovery Cove. This is all just wishful thinking at the moment - we’ll see what happens! What are your zoo plans going to be?

Happy new year!
-Nick