Columbus Zoo Breaks Ground on 43 Acre, $30Million "Safari Africa"

[PREMiERdrum]

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium visitors soon will have the chance to watch lions lie in the thickets, feed giraffes and even zipline through a simulated African plain.

The zoo announced plans Thursday to spend $30.4 million to develop 43 acres into its new Safari Africa exhibit, with a scheduled opening set for May 2014. The exhibit will simulate an open African plain, with visitors looking through glass as animals roam across what looks to be a savannah.

“You’ll take a journey into the grasslands of Africa as you enter our village,” CEO Tom Stalf said. “... Unobstructed views is what we’re striving for.”

Animals will roam across the newly developed exhibit, and it will be designed so that earth is mounded as a backdrop that blocks out nearby houses. The exhibit will feature a large, open African veldt animal exhibit where animals can roam. It also will have individual habitats for lions and cheetahs and a giraffe feeding exhibit.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/09/20/columbus-zoo-adding-43-acre-safari.html

Zoo Design blog:

Today, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium officially broke ground on the 40+ acre, $30 million Safari Africa! project. Director Emeritus, Jack Hanna, acting Director, Tom Stalf, and a host of other stakeholders dug into the open fields once used for soybean farming located just north of the current zoo property.

“We had a beautiful sunny morning, the photos outlining the project…were outstanding and were placed around the tent. We had three huge metal giraffes from our gift shop which welcomed our guests. Our friends from the promotions department joined us with Trout the Penguin , Lucky the Leopard Turtle, a Wild Boar and a Porcepine. Jack, Tom and other dignitaries, armed with their “gold” shovels autographed by Jack, took the first shovels of dirt from the site,” stated Daryl Halvacs from the Zoo’s Planning and Design department.

Along with the ceremony, the Zoo published a series of conceptual renderings prepared by project designer, PGAV. As an insider, I’ll share a tiny secret: these renderings are just a taste of the whole experience so prepare to be surprised when you visit after opening May 2014!

http://designingzoos.com/2012/09/20/safari-africa-revealed/

[PREMiERdrum]

Oddly enough, most of the animals in this new biome either already live on exhibit at the zoo (lions), off exhibit at the zoo (cheetahs), or were moved from the zoo to The Wilds in the '90s as the zoo executed its master plan (zebras, giraffe).

This is really the last "chunk" of the zoo's master plan, approved in the early '90s, finally realizing Jack Hanna and Jerry Borin's concept of a geographic zoo. With this addition, the zoo is now completely organized into geographic "biome" regions (AsiaQuest, African Forest, Safari Africa, North America / Polar Frontier, The Shores, Journey to Australia and the Islands of Southeast Asia.

This expansion increases the zoo's guest areas by 50% from 80 acres to 123 acres.

Next on the design departments agenda? A South American region (South American animals were moved when the old Predator/Prey complex was renovated into AsiaQuest) and a Madagascar exhibit.

[shark6495]

this is awesome. I love going to zoos. The wilds is def worth going to if someone has never gone.

[Hendrick]

I love the Columbus Zoo. I can't wait to see this area once completed. I just wish we still had white tigers.

[SonofBaconator]

this is awesome. I love going to zoos. The wilds is def worth going to if someone has never gone.

I agree. It was worth the drive up there. Jack Hannah, keep up the good work!