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!

Columbus Zoo Safari Africa expansion plans revealed

I just received my Summer 2012 copy of the Beastly Banner, the official Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Membership Magazine. As I was flipping through the pages (which is mostly a big advertisement for the zoo and the Wilds) I was very pleasantly surprised to the first official information from the zoo about much anticipated African savannah expansion!

Safari Africa is the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's most ambitious and expansive region to date. The entrance to the new region will be in the northeast corner of the current North America region. The Ohio State University's solar house which used to stand near the entrance to Polar Frontier (where the timber wolves used to be) has already been disassembled to make way for the entrance to the new area.

From the description given in the magazine and the computer rendering it looks like species we will find include: meerkat, lions, cheetahs, camels, monkeys, zebras, and giraffes. Lions, giraffes and zebras were long expected but seeing the cheetahs on the list is quite a surprise! I hope they build an area similar to Busch Gardens where the cats can show off their speed. Other highlights of the new region will be camel rides, a zipline, and giraffe feeding.

According to other sources, construction has already started to pick up and newly acquired animals intended for Safari Africa will be held at the Wilds until the new exhibit is ready in 2014.

Pictured below is our first look at an official rendering of Safari Africa.

 Click for a larger image.

This new region was previously rumored to have a train or boat ride plus the total land available is around 120 acres so I am optimistically hoping this is only phase one of the expansion and more will be added on in future additions. Either way, it sounds pretty cool - especially the zipline - and I am just glad to finally get some concrete details and information. 2014 can't come soon enough!

Update 6-18-12: Safari Africa plans officially approved!
Update: 7-28-13 Safari Africa construction update

Cheetahs run loose on football field

Tampa, Fla. (March 5, 2012) – On Friday, March 9, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (SEA)will broadcast the most recent installment of its Saving a Species series, which features some of Busch Gardens Tampa’s most popular new residents – the cheetahs – and St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field.

With the stadium closed to outside visitors and the turf marked for the St. Petersburg Bowl football game, the cheetahs were encouraged to run the length of the field, chasing a lure system identical to the one in their Cheetah Run habitat. The cats’ efforts were captured by high-definition and slow-motion cameras. “Even though we have this awesome habitat at Busch Gardens, a 100-yard football field will give us the opportunity to showcase what that speed looks like on a field that people can relate to,” said Tim Smith, a Busch Gardens assistant curator who works with the cheetahs daily.

New Animal Care Center Opens at Busch Gardens Tampa

The new state-of-the-art facility educates guests and offers one-of-a-kind access to the park’s world class animal hospitality. Busch Gardens welcomes guests to closely observe and even take part in the animal care experience when the Tampa park opens its new Animal Care Center on Jan. 23, 2012. From nutrition to treatments, X-rays to surgeries, much of Busch Gardens’ animal care will be conducted in guest view in this new state-of-the-art facility. According to park officials, "the major guest components of the new facility include a nutrition center, treatment rooms, a clinical lab and an interactive diagnostic activity

The treatment center will allow guests to watch as Busch Gardens’ skilled vets do preventative checkups, treatments and surgeries on animals. Guests will be able to see into the rooms through glass walls, and audio capabilities will allow guests to talk to vets working behind the glass." Guests can also participate in a diagnostic exercise by scanning an interactive activity card at several stations as they follow an animal from diagnosis to treatment to blood and lab work to a final outcome. Sounds like an amazing experience!

 Sounds like a much better version of the Columbus Zoo's Animal Care Center wild encounters tour. Maybe they should sit up and take notice.

Busch Gardens Welcomes Baby Cheetah

Mexican Beaded Lizard Hatched at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

A baby Mexican beaded lizard, one of only two species of venomous lizards in North America, hatched on January 16, 2011 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Beaded lizards have venom glands in their lower jaws that allow them to chew venom directly into their prey. There is no anti-venom to counteract a beaded lizard bite.

 

 

 

Zoo staff named the new beaded lizard "Gaspar" to honor Tampa’s annual pirate festival Gasparilla, during which beads are tossed out from parade floats. The hatchling can be viewed at Jambo Junction until it reaches adult maturity, and then it will join the adventure park’s four other beaded lizards in Curiosity Caverns.

 

Photo Credit: Matt Marriott/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

How do zoos do with their animals when the weather gets cold?

Have you ever wondered what a zoo does with its animals when the weather gets exceptionally cold? As you may know, Florida is currently experiencing very cold weather these past two weeks, and Busch Gardens and SeaWorld are certainly aware that this may be really stressful for their animals. They've taken many precautions to protect their many animals. Here's a video that shows how they really take care of them:

Baby Flamingos Hatched at Busch Gardens

More great news out of Busch Gardens Tampa!

TAMPA, Fla. — Since June 3, seven baby Caribbean flamingos have hatched at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay – the most recent, born on Sunday, July 25. The babies are on display along with approximately 125 adult flamingos in the Bird Gardens area of the park.

As these babies prove, newly hatched chicks are not pink, but in fact have gray or white down feathers. Their pink coloring comes from the carotenoid pigments they consume as part of their diet. They won’t lose all of their darker feathers for a few years.

Flamingos have long resided at Busch Gardens. Their bright color and gentle nature have made them a favorite of park guests for many years.

Two Baby Giraffes at Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens guests are getting to see two new additions to the park this week… two baby Giraffes which were introduced to the rest of the herd on the Serengeti Plain for the first time. The first was born on April 6 and was the fourth calf for mother Tesa. The second was born April 24, and is the first calf for mother Chloe. Both are males sired by father Sterling. The giraffe heard at Busch Gardens Tampa now has 17 members. Great new indeed!

New At Busch Gardens Tampa: Walkabout Way

Busch Gardens Tampa has announced a new animal exhibit, Walkabout Way, scheduled to open at the park on June 14th. The new area will allow guests to hand feed kangaroos and wallabies, and see a kookaburra, magpie geese, Australian black swans, and more.

Kangaloom, the centerpiece of the new area, features red and grey kangaroos and Bennett's wallabies, which guests can feed at regularly scheduled times. The Kookaburra's Nest, a free flight aviary, will feature many species of birds native to Australia, and Aussie Station will allow guests to interact with a variety of exotic species.

The new area is an expansion of the Bird Gardens section of the park.

The park is also rumored to get a new coaster in 2011.

A Closer Look at BGT's Endangered Species Tour

Behind the Thrills has a great look at the Endangered Species Tour at Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, Florida. They learned several interesting facts like:

• Giraffes have the same number of vertebrate in their necks as humans, just larger.
• Their tongue is black and purple to protect it from the sun since they spend most of their day eating
• They can see the color green from almost a mile away
• The name "Reticulated" means net, which makes sense since it looks like they have nets thrown over them

Check out the update!