Turtle Back Zoo
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Turtle Back Zoo, located in West Orange, New Jersey, is one of only four zoos in New Jersey. Situated on 18 acres of land in South Mountain Reservation, it is part of the Essex County Park System, the oldest county park system in the United States. Founded in 1963, the zoo was originally a showcase for animals indigenous to New Jersey, but currently features species from every continent except Antarctica. Located adjacent to the Richard J. Codey Arena, practice home of the New Jersey Devils. The zoo is open year-round, recording over 210,000 visitors in 2005.
Recent additions to the zoo include Filipino "golden mantled" flying foxes, making Turtle Back the first zoo in the country to show this species of bat; an American Black Bear exhibit; the Essex Farm, which holds common farm animals and includes a petting zoo; and an animal-themed playground. Its most notable new feature is a $4.6 million reptile house and education center, the zoo's first indoor exhibit, which opened in June, 2006. The center contains a pair of nine-foot-long "black dragons", a species of monitor lizard which was discovered in Malaysia in 2005 and has yet to receive a scientific name. The lizards at Turtle Back are believed to be the only "black dragons" on display in the world.
On September 26, 2006, The Star-Ledger reported that Turtle Back Zoo earned accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which makes the zoo eligible to participate in animal exchanges with other AZA members, and to receive state and federal funding. This is a far cry from a decade earlier, when the zoo was in a dilapidated state; Turtle Back was almost shut down in 1995, but millions of dollars in grants were used on improvements to assure that the zoo would remain open. Since 2003, Turtle Back has received approximately $11 million in funding.
Two nearby universities, Montclair State University and Kean University, have provided funding for the acquisition and upkeep of animals (a Red-tailed Hawk and Cougars, respectively) which became the official mascots for each of the schools.
