Minnesota Zoo

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Minnesota Zoo

Mexican Gray Wolf
Date opened	May 22, 1978 ^[1]
Location	Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA
Number of Animals	2,351 ^[2]
Number of Species	447 ^[2]
Accreditations/ Memberships	AZA
Website

The Minnesota Zoo (formerly Minnesota Zoological Gardens), is an AZA accredited zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota. When it opened on May 22, 1978 ^[1] it was fairly revolutionary in its exhibits. The zoo was built in a suburbanizing rural area and thus had more area to house exhibits, and was one of the first to organize its animals by their living environment as opposed to organizing animals according to species. Exhibits are arrayed in five themed areas, including three themed walking trails ranging from one to two miles in length:

Minnesota Trail, featuring animals native to Minnesota
Northern Trail, featuring animals of the north (above the 45th parallel)
Tropics Trail, an indoor walking trail featuring animals from the tropics
Discovery Bay, an activity area themed around marine wildlife
Russias Grizzly Coast, an part indoor and outdoor brand new multi-million exhibit featuring animals from Russia's Far East and Kamchatka Peninsula.
Wells Fargo Family Farm, a petting zoo themed around farm animals

The Minnesota Zoo is an agency of the State of Minnesota. This differs from other zoos in Minnesota, and most zoos in the United States, are run by municipalities or private organizations. The Minnesota Zoo charges admission and sells annual memberships.

It is also home to a high school, the School of Environmental Studies.

1 Exhibits and attractions
2 Gallery
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Exhibits and attractions

[edit] The Minnesota Trail

The Minnesota Trail features animals that are native to Minnesota. The trail, which has been nearly the same since it opened in 1978, has been renovated. It was closed until July 7, 2007, when its new "North Woods look" was unveiled, along with a few new animals. The new Minnesota Trail is a must see at the Minnesota Zoo.^[3] Some of the animals include:

Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
American Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Cougar (Puma concolor)
Canadian Lynx (lynx canadensis)
River Otter (Lontra canadensis)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Coyote (Canis latrans)
Gray wolf (Canis lupus)
Fisher (Martes pennati)

[edit] The Northern Trail

The Northern Trail contains a 3/4-mile walk that allows visitors to see the animals found north of the 45th parallel. The Northern trail can also be seen from the zoo's monorail which is run year round. A few of the animals that can be seen along this trail:

Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)
Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)
Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus)
Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus caballus przewalskii)
Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)
Meerkat (Suricata suricatta)
Takin (Budorcas taxicolor)
Bison (B. bison)
Musk Ox (Ovibos moschatus)
Moose (Alces alces)
Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys luvodicianus)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Goitered Gazelle (Gazzella antilopenia)
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)

[edit] The Tropics Trail

The Tropics Trail is an indoor trail that gives the impression of being in the Rain Forest. The Tropics Trail is contains a variety of animals, including:

White Cheeked Gibbon (Nomascus concolor)
Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus ursinus)
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
Binturong (Arctictis binturong)
Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)
Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)
Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia)
Greater Indian Hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)
Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla)
Greater Mouse-deer ("Tragulus napu")
Visayan Warty Pig ("Sus cebifrons")
Lesser Flamingo ("Phoenicopterus minor")
Burmese Python("Python molurus bivittatus")
Asian Small-clawed Otter ("Asian Small-clawed Otter")
Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth ("Choloepus didactylus")
Clouded Leopard ("Panthera nebulosa")

[edit] Discovery Bay

A portion of the whale mural at the Minnesota Zoo

The Discovery Bay is the marine center of the zoo. It contains several aquariums with over 1.1 million gallons of water. Guests have an opportunity to touch sharks, rays, starfish and even sea anemones in the Discovery Bay's interactive estuary and tidal pool. In addition to the aquarium, there are daily dolphin shows in the zoo's 800-seat Dolphin Stadium, with Semo, a 42 year old male, and his 5 year old daughter, Spree. At the entrance to the Tropics building, you can see the Wyland mural titled “Our Ocean Family,” dedicated September 8th, 1997.

Having had a fairly consistent dolphin population since their introduction, the Zoo was shaken when 3 of their dolphins, Ayla, who had scoliosis, Harley, and their mother, Rio, all died in the same year. Limited now to two dolphins, Spree and Semo, Semo is already reaching past life expectancy, being nearly 43 years old. In 2007, the Minnesota Zoo received 2 new female bottlenose dolphins named April and Allie.

April and Allie arrived at the Zoo from the Dolphin Connection in Florida. They will join Minnesota Zoo dolphins Semo and Spree on public display after they are fully acclimated to their new surroundings and caretakers. "This is an exciting time for the Zoo and we're thrilled to have April and Allie here,” said Marine Mammal Supervisor Diane Fusco. “Our staff looks forward not only to introducing them to Spree and Semo in the near future, but to our guests as well.”

April and Allie, who are owned by the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, were brought to the Minnesota Zoo as a breeding recommendation by a consortium of zoos and aquariums that manage their dolphins collectively. It is also hoped that the two will become “role models” to young Spree. Both dolphins are approximately eight feet long and weigh between 400-430 pounds.

Until they are on public display, you will be able to get periodic updates of April and Allie by visiting this page. Also you can read April and Allie's bios. http://www.mnzoo.org/animals/discovery_bay/dolphbios.asp

The most familiar of the 37 species of dolphins, adult Atlantic bottlenose dolphins range in length from 8 to 12 feet and weigh between 400 and 600 pounds. Their sleek, torpedoshaped bodies are padded with a layer of insulating blubber. Their prominent rostrums or beaks account for the name “bottlenose.” Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide and may also enter harbor bays, lagoons, estuaries and river mouths. Some populations can also be found living offshore.

Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci)
Swellshark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum)
Leopard shark ("Triakis semifasciata)
Grey Nurse Shark ("Carcharias taurus")
Bat Ray ("Myliobatis californica")
Weedy Sea Dragon ("Phyllopteryx taeniolatus")

[edit] Wells Fargo Family Farm

The Minnesota Zoo's Wells Fargo Family Farm is one of areas at the zoo where people can touch and interact with the animals. The farm contains a collection of goats, sheep, pigs, cows, chickens, and horses. Due to state cutbacks, the Farm has become a seasonal exhibit which opens in early spring for its annual "Spring Babies" event goes through Labor Day, and continues weekends through October before closing for the winter.

[edit] Russia's Grizzly Coast

The Zoo has begun building a new exhibit "Russia's Grizzly Coast", an exhibit that will give people a chance to see animals that live around Russia's Pacific coast, including sea otter, giant grizzly bear, secretive Amur tiger, critically endangered Amur leopard, and wild boar in dramatic environments reminiscent of their homes in the Russian Far East. This project is the Zoo's biggest undertaking since the building of Discovery Bay. Russia's Grizzly Coast is set to open June 7, 2008 at 9 a.m.

[edit] Other attractions

In addition to the exhibits the zoo also has an IMAX theater and an amphitheater that is used for bird shows during zoo hours and concerts after hours for the music in the zoo series each summer.