LOCAL FAMILY FUN
EXPEDITION AFRICA OKC Zoo opens largest habitat expansion to date
BY ERIN PAGE . PHOTOS PROVIDED BY OKC ZOO.
G iraffes and lemurs and meerkats, oh my! This September, the Oklahoma City Zoo opens Expedition Africa: a $35 million, 12-acre immersive experience designed to inspire visitors to consider how they can contribute to the conservation of the animals on display. “This is a fundamental opportunity to connect kids with species they wouldn’t otherwise see,” said Dr. Dwight Lawson, the Zoo’s executive director and CEO. “On the sustainability front, the theming and graphics explain it’s [about] more than just an exotic animal from the other side of the planet, but what [visitors] can do in terms of resource use.” Leaders call the development of Expedition Africa the “most ambitious in the Zoo’s 120-year history.” Plans for the expansion began in 2018, and the habitat was funded through private donations and a dedicated 1/8-of-a-cent sales tax, approved by Oklahoma City citizens in 1990. Lawson says it’s the magnitude of this project, developed over the past 20 years, that has him most excited to unveil Expedition Africa to the public. “We’re talking 77 different species, 200 plus animals, not counting fish, 35 species new to the Zoo — and it reprograms the entire center of the Zoo,” said Lawson. “Since moving the elephants out [to what is now Sanctuary Asia] in 2011, we’ve been making space in this core area to get to this point. From the turnstiles all the way to the [Joan Kirkpatrick Animal] hospital will be newly-programmed space.”
(ABOVE) NEW SINGLE-SPECIES YARDS IN EXPEDITION AFRICA PROVIDE MORE FLEXIBILITY FOR THE ROTATION OF ANIMALS WHO’VE CALLED PREDATOR PASS HOME, LIKE THE AFRICAN PAINTED DOGS. PHOTO BY JENNIFER D.
LEMURS ARE ONE OF 35 SPECIES NEW TO THE ZOO IN EXPEDITION AFRICA.
THESE CHEETAH BROTHERS ARE ONE OF SEVERAL SPECIES THAT WILL BE ROTATED BETWEEN HABITATS IN EXPEDITION AFRICA AND PREDATOR PASS.
22 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / SEPT-OCT 2023
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software