Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

Infobox zoo
zoo_name= Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

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location= 1 Wild Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15206 USA (in Highland Park)
area= 77 acres
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num_animals= Over 4,000
num_species= 475
members= AZA
exhibits= Asian Forest, African Savannah, Tropical Forest, Bears, African Ravine, PPG Aquarium, Water's Edge, Kids Kingdom, Worlds of Discovery
website= http://www.pittsburghzoo.comThe Pittsburgh Zoo is one of only six major zoo and aquarium combinations in the United States. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Highland Park, the zoo sits on 77 acres of park land where it exhibits over 4,000 animals representing 475 species, over 70 of which are threatened or endangered. The zoo also participates in 64 Species Survival Plans.

History

The Pittsburgh Zoo opened on June 14, 1898. It added a children's zoo in 1949, and the aquarium center (now the PPG Aquarium) was added in 1967. The PPG Aquarium was the second largest in the country and the first and only public aquarium in Pennsylvania at the time.

The zoo has added several new features in the last generation, included among these is the Asian Forest (1983), the 16 acre African Savanna (1987), and the five acre indoor rainforest Tropical Forests, housing 150+ species of primates (1991), which won many awards when it opened.

Kids Kingdom, the award-winning children's zoo opened in 1995. It features a California sea lion exhibit, a walk-through deer yard, a walk-through kangaroo yard, a petting zoo, two play areas, several domesticated animals, and a large building housing various reptile species, meerkats, and bats called Worlds of Discovery.

PPG Industries in 2000 partnered with the zoo to modernize and expand the aquarium exhibit. The updated convert|45000|sqft|m2|abbr=on. complex cost over $17 million and boasts nearly 400,000 gallons of salt and fresh water with 40 aquatic exhibits.

With over 4,000 aquatic animals from throughout the world the PPG Aquarium hosts large exhibits of penguins, electric eels, jellyfish, stingrays, and many types of exotic fish. It also has an exhibit featuring regional and North American fish on the outside of the complex as an entryway.

Breeding achievements

The Pittsburgh Zoo has made several different breeding achievements over the years. A litter of rare Amur leopard cubs was born several years ago. The Zoo has also had many gorilla and orangutan births at the Tropical Forest complex.

On September 12, 1999, one of the Zoo's female African elephants, Moja, successfully gave birth to a female calf, later named Victoria. This was a major feat for the Zoo, because Victoria was the first African elephant to be born and survive in North America since 1982. Also, she was the first to be born to a captive-born mother. A second calf, a male named Callee, was born to another female named Savannah almost exactly one year later on September 19, 2000. The father of both of these calves is a bull named Jackson, who is currently the only male African breeding naturally in North America. Both Moja and Savannah became pregnant again in 2006. On July 9, 2008 Savannah gave birth to a female calf named Angelina. Moja gave birth to a female as well on July 25, 2008. This calf has been named Zuri.

Recently, on August 8, 2006 the Zoo's female Amur tiger, Toma, gave birth to a litter of three cubs. This is also a major accomplishment because Amurs are critically endangered, and every successful litter counts a great deal. Although one of the cubs died of a heart defect in September, the other two are healthy and doing well; their future looks very bright. The surviving cubs are a male named Petya and a female named Mara.

Another Amur tiger cub was born to Toma on May 11, 2008. The male cub had been taken from his mother because Toma was not being very attentive to him. Handlers later determined that it is most likely because Toma is not producing enough milk, if any at all. On September 12, 2008 the baby cub was named after Billy Ray Cyrus, the famous Country music, and television star. Zoo representatives said the donors who paid to name the cub “Billy Ray” wanted to honor a late family member who was a big Cyrus fan.

Billy Ray will likely grow up to be about 11-feet-long and weigh 450 pounds, according to the zoo.

Accidental death

On November 19, 2002, elephant keeper Mike Gatti was killed by one of the zoo's elephants.Belser, Ann, and Marylynne Pitz. " [http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021119zoo1119p1.asp Elephant kills keeper at Pittsburgh zoo] ", the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, published November 19, 2002, accessed December 26, 2007.] Gatti, 46, was killed while attempting to encourage the elephant to move to a different part of her enclosure. She butted him with her head, crushing him against the ground and killing him instantly. This was the first instance of a human fatality at the zoo.

Future projects

Work is currently underway to build a new convert|2|acre|m2|sing=on exhibit that will display polar bears, sea otters, and walruses. The new exhibits are state of the art. The polar bear exhibit opened late 2006, the otters in mid-2007, and the walruses will arrive in 2009 or 2010.

You can currently enter a tunnel, after walking through a nautical motif dock, which spans under the polar bears, sea otters and sea lion's exhibit. You can now see the mammals swimming and playing in the water while you are safely walking through their environments.

References

External links

* [http://www.pittsburghzoo.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.pittsburghzoo.com/zoo.asp?SectionID=3 PPG Aquarium official site at the Pittsburgh Zoo]