Dallas Zoo is a zoo located south of downtown Dallas in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas (USA). The zoo was originally founded in 1888 and now covers , making it the largest zoological park in Texas ^[1]. The Dallas Zoo is home to 406 species and 1,800 animals (6,800 counting invertebrates). There are another 375 species of marine and freshwater animals in The Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park, which it also manages. The facility is immediately adjacent to the Dallas Zoo Station on DART's .

Exhibits

The zoo is divided into two major regions: ZooNorth and the Wilds of Africa.

ZooNorth is home to most of the traditional zoo animals, including giraffes, tigers, and elephants. Within recent years, the Dallas Zoo has added several new exhibits to ZooNorth including the Otter Outpost, Galápagos tortoises, and Bug U! (a collection of Texas invertebrates). Wings of Wonder, home to birds of prey and vultures, has been remodeled and expanded. The kangaroo and wallaby exhibit also was redesigned. The ExxonMobil Endangered Tiger Habitat is a large habitat that resembles a forest that is in the process of regrowth after logging. Opposite the tiger exhibit, Primate Place features frisky monkeys with species from Africa and South America.

The popular Lacerte Family Children?s Zoo in ZooNorth features a new interactive playscape where children can hide in a giant bird?s nest, crawl over a spider?s web, slide down a tree trunk and more. During hot summers, kids cool off in the running creek. Be sure to visit Travis & Zach?s Birds Landing with more than 20 species of friendly birds to feed. The children?s zoo also is home to the Nature Exchange (a unique swap shop for natural items), the JC Penney Discovery House, the UnderZone, a petting zoo, and pony rides.

Other exhibits include the Pierre A. Fontaine Bird & Reptile Building (Dallas is one of the few zoos in the country to exhibit tuatara and the only American zoo to display Perentie monitors).

Older exhibits like the Large Mammal Building (which features African elephants and giraffes) and Cat Row are scheduled to be remodeled with the planned addition of an African savanna. The Hill, one of the original parts of the zoo, is home to black rhinoceroses, cheetahs, and many hoofed mammals.

On the other side of the zoo, the Wilds of Africa features a penguins, mandrills, and the Nature Trail. The Nature Trail, winding through a wooded section of the zoo, takes guests through a forest aviary and past gorillas, chimpanzees, and crocodiles. Also on this trail are two species for which the zoo is famous for breeding: okapi and saddle-billed storks. Most of the Wilds can be seen only through the Monorail Safari, which crosses several African biomes - Forest, Mountain, Woodland, River, Desert, and Bush. Animals seen along the monorail include zebras, ibexes, and a wide variety of African antelope and birds. 2008 brings the travelling exhibit "Stingray Bay, presented by CitiŽ", where visitors can touch and feel the stingrays.

Incidents at the Zoo

On March 18 2004 a gorilla named Jabari scaled a retaining wall and injured three visitors. He was fatally shot by a police SWAT team after being pursued by zoo employees through the Wilds of Africa exhibit.^[2] This incident prompted several zoos to create or enhance Emergency Response Teams to deal with escaped animals. The Jake L. Hamon Gorilla Research Center was redesigned with new landscape, taller walls, and expanded viewing opportunities for visitors, including an air conditioned visitor center with floor-to-ceiling windows, videos, and on-site ?gorilla guides? to answer questions and point out interesting facts. The exhibit is home to two gorilla troops.

In 2007 and 2008, the zoo was plagued by the deaths of several high profile animals, including an elephant,^[3] Hildy, the oldest giraffe in the world,^[4] a cheetah, the zoo's only lion, Boris,^[5] the zoo's only male mandrill,^[6] a gorilla named Hercules,^[7] and another, Jenny, who at 55 was the worlds oldest gorilla in captivity.^[8]

References

External links

• The Dallas Zoo
• Dallas Zoo Photo Gallery
• Stingray Bay, presented by CitiŽ

sv:Dallas Zoo