Minnesota Zoo

Minnesota Zoo
Minnesota Zoo

Mexican Gray Wolf
Date opened May 22, 1978 [1]
Location Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA
Land area 485 acres (196 ha)[2]
Number of animals 2,351 [3]
Number of species 447 [3]
Memberships AZA
Website http://www.mnzoo.org

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 exhibit design. The zoo, built in a suburbanizing rural area, had more space to house exhibits and was one of the first zoos to organize its animals by their living environment as opposed to their species. Exhibits are arrayed in six themed areas, including three themed walking trails ranging from one to two miles in length:

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

The Minnesota Zoo is a state agency. This differs from other zoos in Minnesota and most zoos in the United States, which 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.


Contents

Exhibits and Attractions

The Medtronic Minnesota Trail

The Medtronic Minnesota Trail features animals that are native to Minnesota. The Trail, which had been nearly the same since it opened in 1978, was reopened in 2007 after a year-long renovation. The new trail features a "north woods" look and includes exhibits for raccoons, coyotes, and gray wolves together with long-time residents like beaver, otter, puma, and lynx. Smaller Minnesota animals, like turtles, frogs, and salamanders, are featured in the exhibit’s “trailhead,” which is styled after a lodge. The quarter-mile Trail takes guests through more than fifteen wildlife exhibits where they experience a variety of Minnesota landscapes, ranging from views into a beaver pond, a walk alongside a northern forest glade, and a bird-watching perch in the treetops. The Minnesota Zoo received the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s (AZA) 2008 Significant Achievement Award for this trail. [4] Details on more of the animals:

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:

The Tropics Trail

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

However, visitors should note that in summer 2010 the former sun bear exhibit became home to a variety of animals, including Dwarf Crocodiles and rock hyrax. The Former Nocturnal animal area will be converted into a reptile hallway.

Discovery Bay

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 sea anemones in the Discovery Bay's interactive estuary and tide pool. In addition to the aquarium, guests can see Atlantic bottlenose dolphins "Semo," "Allie," and their calf "Taijah," in the window to the Dolphin aquarium in the Great Hall. At the entrance to the Tropics building, you can see the Wyland mural titled “Our Ocean Family,” dedicated September 8, 1997. Some of the animals contained in this exhibit:

Dolphin aquarium

As of 2011, the pod consists of 45 year old Semo, 23 year old Allie, and Semo and Allie's calf, Taijah. Dolphin shows at the zoo are currently on hiatus in 2011. Semo is now in his mid 40s, and the zoo feels it is best for them to avoid the more high-energetic behaviors usually performed by the younger members of the group.[5] In November of 2009, it was confirmed by ultrasound that Allie was pregnant yet again, by Semo this time as well. The female calf was born on July 17, 2010 and through a Facebook vote was named Tajiah in late 2010. Semo had impregnated Allie in Mid 2008. However, Allie suffered a stillbirth on March 26th 2009, much to the disappointment of Zoo Staff.

In March 2006, One of the dolphins, Rio, died at 35. She came to the Minnesota Zoo from the New York Aquarium in 1980. Rio gave birth to four calves at the Minnesota Zoo.[6] One of Rio's calves, 7 month old Harley, died earlier in January 2006 in a freak accident. He had been learning to swim between the pools when he jumped out of the water, and hit his head on the deck between the pools.[7] Another dolphin, "Ayla", who suffered from Scoliosis or curvature of the spine, was euthanized at age 14 in December 2006. She had stopped eating and stopped responding to her medication.[8] At that time the remaining dolphins at the zoo were "Spree," "Chinook" and "Semo."

In 2007, the zoo shipped Chinook, a 24-year-old male, to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Chinook was moved because the aquarium had seven adult females and no adult males. Chinook fathered a calf and then moved to the Brookfield Zoo in 2010.[9]

Allie, and her mother, "April" were additions to the Minnesota Zoo's Bottlenose Dolphin Family in 2008. Both arrived on January 14th, 2008 from Dolphin Connection in Florida.

In September 2009, three Bottlenose Dolphins from the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois, arrived at the Discovery Bay habitat while their home stadium; the Seven Seas Dolphinarium, underwent a massive upgrade and restoration process. The three dolphins, Tapeko, and her daughters Noelani and Allison, remained in Minnesota for roughly six months until the restoration process in Brookfield was completed in the Spring of 2010. This eventually brought the Minnesota Zoo's dolphin population up to 7.

It was also recently confirmed through the zoo's blog that "Spree" the zoo's 8 year old female dolphin, was to return to The Brookfield Zoo along with the other three dolphins once the renovating of the Brookfield dolphin stadium was completed. On April 15th, 2010, Tapeko, Noelani, and Allison, made the return trip back to the Brookfield Zoo with Spree along with them.

On Feb. 15, 2011, April passed away and a necropsy was pending to determine cause of death.[10] April was around 42 years old, making her one of the older bottlenose dolphins known in human care.

Wells Fargo Family Farm

The Minnesota Zoo's Wells Fargo Family Farm, which was opened in May 2000, is one of the areas at the zoo where people can touch and interact with domestic animals. The farm contains a collection of goats, sheep, pigs, cows, chickens, and horses. The Farm, a seasonal exhibit, is open every day beginning in April and the popular "Farm Babies" event and runs from April 1-April 30. It is the open weekends through October before closing for the winter.

  • Cow (Bos taurus)
  • Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)
  • Goat (Capra hircus)
  • Horse (Equus caballus)
  • Pig (Sus scrofa domesticus)
  • Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
  • Sheep (Ovis aries)[11]

Russia's Grizzly Coast

The Zoo's "Russia's Grizzly Coast" exhibit gives guests a chance to see animals that live around Russia's Pacific coast, including sea otters, grizzly bears, Amur tigers, Amur Leopards, and wild boars in environments reminiscent of their homes in the Russian Far East. Considered the Zoo's biggest undertaking since the building of Discovery Bay, Russia's Grizzly Coast opened in June, 2008.

3M Penguins of the African Coast

On July 9th, 2011, the Zoo premiered a new exhibit focused on African penguins.

Other attractions

The Great Clips IMAX Theatre is located on Zoo grounds, along with an outdoor amphitheater that is used for bird shows during summer zoo hours and after-hours concerts for its "Music in the Zoo" series.

Past Exhibits

One of the first and perhaps most popular exhibits at the zoo was the beluga whale exhibit. The exhibit was home to two Belugas, a male by the name of Anookalik (nicknamed "Big Mouth"), and a female by the name of Anana (nicknamed "Little Girl"). Both whales were captured from Hudson Bay in 1978 and transferred to the zoo shorthly thereafter. The pair became an instant sensation at the zoo. In later years, however, a bone infection found within "Big Mouth's" jawbone (resulting from a collision with one of the tank fixtures), forced the immediate transfer of both whales to SeaWorld San Diego in the hopes of obtaining a more sophisticated means of veterinary treatment. In April of 1987, a crowd of nearly 30,000 people filled the gates of the Minnesota Zoo to bid their final farewells to the two whales, who were transferred out of the zoo shortly thereafter. Little Girl died of heart failure on June 13th, 1989 at the age of fourteen. Big Mouth, whose bone infection eventually proved to be fatal, was euthanized on July 16th, 1990. He was 17 years old.


Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b http://www.mnzoo.org/guests/birthday/index.asp retrieved October 22, 2006
  2. ^ Minnesota Monthly, May 2010
  3. ^ a b http://www.mnzoo.org/global/glance.asp retrieved July 9, 2007
  4. ^ Minnesota Zoo/ Minnesota Trail Closes for Renovations Retrieved October 22, 2006
  5. ^ Minnesota Zoo - Bottlenose Dolphin - Behind the scenes Retrieved April 17, 2011, In cooperation with other facilities with dolphins, we are growing our dolphin population. Semo's healthy and active, but is getting a little too old for many of the high-energy behaviors that have thrilled guests for years.
  6. ^ KARE 11 Staff Writer - Minnesota Zoo loses another dolphin. KARE 11, March 7, 2006
  7. ^ Kennedy, Patrick - Minnesota Zoo's baby dolphin dies after leaping out of pool; Young Harley might have become frightened or confused while he was practicing swimming maneuvers with his mother, Rio. Star Tribune, January 22, 2006. Harley, the 7-month old dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo, died Saturday afternoon in a freak accident. The 5 1/2-foot-long, 120-pound male had been learning to swim between two back pools with his mother when he jumped out of the water and hit his head, according to Kevin Willis, director of biological programs at the zoo in Apple Valley. The two back pools are separated by a 6-foot-long, 6-foot-wide, 6-foot-deep channel. Gates separate the back pools and the presentation pool where dolphin shows are performed. Harley was just learning to negotiate his way between the east and west pools, and the training was going well, Willis said. A staff member working the back pools saw Harley and his mother, Rio, swim from one pool to the other. Rio then swam back across the channel, but Harley trailed behind. Either frightened or confused, he jumped out of the water and hit his head on the deck.
  8. ^ Lindsay, Meggen - Minnesota Zoo dolphin Ayla, 14, dies after long struggle with scoliosis. Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), December 2, 2006
  9. ^ Farewell to Chinook. National Aquarium, June 25, 2010
  10. ^ Walsh, Paul - April, 'beloved' bottlenose dolphin, dies at Minnesota Zoo. Star Tribune, February 15, 2011
  11. ^ http://www.mnzoo.org/animals/animals_sheep.asp

External links

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Coordinates: 44°46′07″N 93°11′56″W / 44.76861°N 93.19889°W / 44.76861; -93.19889


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