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

Woodland Park Zoo Map 2009

Looking for things to do in Seattle, Washington? Pictured here is a map of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle from 2009. Although I’ve never been there I enjoy looking at zoo maps and examining how they are laid out and are organized. Also pictured is a rendering of the Humbolt Penguin exhibit.

Image(s) of the Week: Grizzly Bears

We visited the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (again) a couple of weeks ago and the grizzly bears but on quite a show! Brutus and Buckeye were wrestling each other in the water. Amazing to watch but I wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle of it!

Bald Eagles at Highbanks Metropark

Looking for something else to do near Columbus, Ohio? That is, of course, after you've visited the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. For your next wildlife and animal adventure be sure to head over to Highbanks Metropark for a chance to see real live bald eagles nesting in the wild. I visited a couple weeks ago and although we didn't get a good shot of the eagles I did snap a few pictures of the gigantic nest high above the banks of the Olentangy River.

The Metropark's staff has setup a web site with a live feed of the eagle's nest. I took a few screen grabs and if you look closely you can see the eagle pretty well!

Aerial Antics: Overhead pictures of the Columbus Zoo

Aerial Antics: Overhead pictures of the Columbus Zoo 

Welcome to the latest addition of our new feature, Aerial Antics. Today, we're going to be flying over my home zoo, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. These aerial images were taken from Bing maps bird's eye view feature. 

This first picture is an overhead view of the North America region of the park. North America is the largest and oldest section of the zoo. As you can see, these satellite images are not completely up-to-date as the Polar Frontier area is still under construction on the right hand side of the image. The big green pasture in the middle is for the bison and pronghorn antelopes. The big, red petting zoo farm building is at the bottom of the photo above the parking lot. Can you trace the railroad tracks for the train ride? 

The next aerial photograph primarily shows Asia Quest , which opened in two phases in 2006.  The large building at the bottom is the indoor facility for the rhinos and elephants. It's the largest indoor exhibit of its kind in North America and the second in the world, with the capacity to house 10–12 elephants and 3–4 rhinos simultaneously. It really is a big building! 

This last picture actually shows an overhead view of the entire western half of the zoo. Which lies aon the banks of the Scioto River. The first region is called Shores and comprised tManatee Coast and the Coral Reef.  The Manatee exhbiti is particularly interesting because this habitat is one of only two outside of Florida to keep manatees, as wekk as the retractable roof, which creates an outdoor environment for up to five manatees during warm weather. 

There are two important round buildings: one is the reptile house and the other is a restored 1914 Mangels-Illions carousel (which used to reside at the neighboring Wyandot Lake). Can you spot Islands of Southeast Asia region opened in 2003 features a relaxing boat ride?

New Zoo Videos and Resources Pages

I just wanted to let you know that I've added two additional new pages to the Zoo Tails site to go along with the "Zoo Books" page I recently created. The first new page is entitled "Videos" and contains some of the zoo videos I have filmed and edited over the past several years. The second page is called "Resources" and contains some useful links to different services and tools I use to help keep this blog and my other websites up and running.

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.