Salisbury Zoo logo |
|
Sign entering the Salisbury Zoo |
|
| Date opened | 1954 |
|---|---|
| Location | Salisbury, Maryland, USA |
| Land area | 12 acres (4.9 ha)[1] |
| Number of animals | 110+ |
| Annual visitors | 300,000+[2] |
| Memberships | AZA[3] |
| Owner | City of Salisbury Salisbury Zoo Commission |
| Website | www.salisburyzoo.org |
The Salisbury Zoological Park, commonly referred to as the Salisbury Zoo, is a 12-acre (4.9 ha) zoo located on the Delmarva Peninsula in the Salisbury, Maryland city park. Its collection of over 110 animals includes American alligators, flamingos, North American river otters, ocelots, Patagonian Cavys, red wolves, two-toed sloths, jaguars, llamas, turtles, macaws, rescued raptors and owls, and a spectacled or Andean bear.
The Salisbury Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and is one of only 15 AZA-accredited zoos that do not charge an entrance fee.[4]
Contents |
The zoo was founded in 1954 with the placement of some animals on permanent display in the city park. Improvements made in the 1970s resulted in the naturalistic enclosures for species native to North, Central and South America that visitors see today.[5]
The zoo is currently run by a 9 member commission appointed by the Salisbury city council, and is funded partly by the Salisbury Zoo Commission and partly by the City of Salisbury.[5]
The Salisbury Zoo was home to the oldest known captive-born spectacled or Andean bear in the world, as of 2011, named Poopsie.[6] She was born in December 1973 at the Baltimore Zoo and came to the Salisbury Zoo when she was only 7 months old, on July 18, 1974. Poopsie bor two litters of cubs in 1980 and 1981, which she outlived. Spectacled bears generally live to be 25–28 years old. Poopsie turned 37 on December 27, 2010. She was euthanized on November 9, 2011 following arthritic conditions, compromised mobility, and depression.[7]
As of 2011, the zoo is raising money, through its fund-raising nonprofit the Delmarva Zoological Society, Inc, for a new Animal Health Clinic, which is required for it to maintain its accreditation with the AZA.[8] Phase two of Renew The Zoo is a new Environmental Center[9] and a new Australian exhibit,[10] each will cost an estimated $750,000.[11]
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||