“There are less than 300 orangutans in zoos in all of North America.”Īs the train moves, so do animals nearby like rheas, a South American bird related to the ostrich family. “It is one of crown jewels of the park,” Massey said. The zoo just added the orangutan exhibit in January. One of those is Arty, the world’s first male orangutan born through assisted reproduction.Īrty stands for Artificial Reproduction Technology. On the other side of that exhibit, separated by water, is an orangutan exhibit where the three orangutans frolic amid thick trees and other play areas. “A lot of days, they love to just roll around in the mud and cover themselves, because that acts as a sun screen for them,” Massey said. The white rhino, largest of the rhinoceros species with males weighing more than 5,000 pounds, is the world’s second-largest land mammal behind the African bush elephant. The zoo has a group of white rhinos in various sizes in a 10-acre habitat. The zoo’s open-air train which transports visitors to one area of the park where the hippos are located, passes through several other island areas with rare animals to see. Money from these encounters will help us directly go to conservation.” “We want to raise public awareness in a fun way where people can see them up close, see how cool they are and why they want us to help save them. “Large amounts of hippos have died due to Anthrax. “In the wild, Hippos have been poached and their carcasses left out in the wild where other hippos have eaten and contracted Anthrax,” Massey said. In the country, I don’t think you will find a lot of places to do this,” McMaster said. “I think this will be really special for our zoo. Kiboko is the Swahili term for hippopotamus. In the past several months, the zoo created the Kiboko River Station as an observation deck for visitors. It can’t happen now due to social distance concerns. It will allow humans the rarest of up-close encounters with an endangered species. Later this summer, the zoo hopes to allow visitors to reserve a ticket for an additional fee to stand with McMaster or other caretakers at 11:30 a.m. It’s like a free-standing buffet 24 hours a day.” “It is a really special species that not a lot of zoos in the world have,” Massey said. Watch Video: How will Pensacola measure whether it's too soon to reopen? Conservation doesn’t stop when the doors are closed. And we have animals to take care of here. “That saying about the show must go on doesn’t change here at the zoo,” Massey said. They have interacted with the animals, made sure the surroundings were well-maintained, spruced up several areas and kept the animals safe and content. In the past six weeks, the 40 employees at the Gulf Breeze Zoo have worked as if it was business as normal.
“With (animals), it’s almost like ‘Who turned off the TV?' I always think animals make the world better, period. Pensacola, county mirrors state: Escambia County, Pensacola to follow first phase of DeSantis' coronavirus reopening plan Pensacola restaurants look at reopening: Pensacola restaurants to follow phase one order at their own pace
“Our animals are expert people watchers,” said Katy Massey, conservation curator, now in her fourth year with the Gulf Breeze Zoo and sister property Alabama Safari Park near Montgomery, Alabama, which is a drive-through zoo experience.įood trucks: Initiative to bring take-out options to Beulah, via food trucks, turns out to be a hit There will be several social distance guidelines and visitor limitations practiced, including the distances kept between visitors.īut the 1,000-plus animals in the carefully designed, thick foliage park will be able to have a daily experience again with the public. Shuttered since March 23, as part of response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Gulf Breeze Zoo began accepting visitors at 9 a.m. View Gallery: Coronavirus: Gulf Breeze Zoo set to reopen after shutdown following CDC guidelines
0 kommentar(er)
