Zoo News
African Journey Opens
June 6, 2009
Click to learn how you can
purchase your Recognition Tile.
The new African
Journey exhibit at the Fort Wayne
Children's Zoo will immerse visitors in the sights, sounds,
culture, and wildlife of the amazing African continent.
By bringing visitors close to lions, giraffes, and wildebeests
via new, fully accessible pathways,
African Journey
will reveal the wonders of Africa in an exciting new way.
 Key
features of the new African Journey
will be: a lion exhibit, a Savannah
Trail, new animal exhibits featuring mongoose and hyenas, a
new revolutionary entry experience, and a whole new system of interactive, educational,
and cultural experiences.
Zoo visitors will begin their
African Journey
through the tunnel currently connecting the central zoo to the
African Veldt. Visitors emerge from the tunnel to experience
an African oasis of natural plantings, pools, and tall grasses.
They will learn that Africa has many types of ecosystems.
Signs, props, and interactive elements, like a climb-in Land
Rover, will help prepare visitors
for their African Journey!
A centerpiece of the new
African Journey
will be the Savannah Trail.
Visitors will follow winding paths and bridges that pass through
grasslands, woodlands, and ponds, following a small stream toward
huge rock outcroppings. Called
kopjes in Africa, these
rock outcroppings are home to numerous plants and animals.
Zoo visitors will find dik diks,
hyenas, and vultures among the nooks and crannies
of the kopjes.
 The
most dramatic element of the African
Journey will be the new
African Lion Exhibit.
Framed by large boulders, visitors will come nose-to-nose with
the 500-pound "king of the beasts" visible through two inches
of secure glass. Around the next turn will be animals
never before exhibited in Fort Wayne:
hyenas!
Honey badgers, servals,
and a troop of banded mongoose are just a
few of the rare and unique animals featured in this exciting
display.
The sound of African drumbeats will draw visitors
from the Lion Exhibit to the existing
African Village.
Improvements in the village will encourage kids to interact
with authentic African percussion instruments while viewing
expanded exhibits for leopards,
colobus monkeys,
and de Brazza's monkeys.
Another large improvement in the village will be new pathways
that are accessible to all visitors.
On the western edge of the African Village, a
renovated giraffe
exhibit will offer the experience of the
lifetime: the opportunity to hand feed a 16-foot-tall
giraffe! Visitors will hold a morsel of food as the giraffe's
black, eighteen-inch-long tongue reaches out to grasp the food.
This opportunity is completely unprecedented for the general
public in Fort Wayne and is sure to be a highlight for adults
and children alike. A zoo donor recently summed up the
experience by stating, "There is nothing like having a giraffe's
tongue take a carrot out of your hand! What a great experience!"
 Upon
leaving the African Village, visitors will enjoy expansive views
of the 10-acre African grasslands, where
zebras, ostrich,
and wildebeest dot the landscape. Kids will enjoy
entering the Zebra Research Station, where they will be able
to operate remote video cameras to monitor animal behavior.
Like a colorful African tapestry, a variety
of meaningful interactive elements
will be woven into the African
Journey. Kids will explore
hidden tunnels in the rocks, peer through telescopes to
discover hidden nests, touch the teeth of a lion, learn
about the life of an African predator, duck into a
researcher's tent, place their hands on a giraffe's neck
bone, and more.
Behind-the-scenes
in the African Journey
are substantial improvements in infrastructure, such as underground
utilities, pathways, and landscaping. Additionally, warm,
secure winter holding areas
will be necessary for giraffes, lions,
servals, and many other small animal species. The entire Savannah
Trail will wind for nearly a half-mile through the
African Journey.
Shaded benches and seating areas will offer restful settings
to observe the various animal exhibits.
The African Journey
is scheduled to open June 6, 2009.
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Click to learn how you can
purchase your Recognition Tile.
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