Minnesota Zoo

Minnesota Zoo
Mexican Gray Wolf
Date opened	May 22, 1978
Location	Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA
No. of animals	2,156
No. of species	408
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 it was fairly revolutionary in its exhibits. First, because it was not in a small urban area is had more area for exhibits. Second, it organized animals not by type ("Ape House", "Snakes") but by environment. 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
• 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.

Exhibits

The Minnesota Trail features animals that are native to Minnesota; such as beaver, puma, lynx, and wolverine. Visitors can also see bison, bactrian camels, pronghorn, moose, musk ox, woodland caribou and many others. The trail, which has been nearly the same since it opened in 1978, is being renovated. It will be closed until summer 2007, when it's new "north woods feel" will be unveiled, along with a few new animals.

The Northern Trail contains a 3/4-mile walk that allows visitors to see the animals found north of the 45th parallel. Part of the Northern Trail was converted into an African exhibit that was open for the summer of 2006. The Nothern trail can also be seen from the zoo's monorail which is run year round.

The Tropics Trail is an indoor trail that gives the impression of being in the Rain Forest. The Tropics Trail is home to animals such as the gibbon, lemur, sloth, as well as the Komodo Dragon.

The Discovery Bay is the marine center of the zoo. It contains several aquariums with over 1.1 million gallons of water. Visitors can see Bottlenose Dolphins, various sharks, sting rays, eels, and hundreds of other types of marine animals. There are daily dolphin shows in the zoo's 800-seat dolphin stadium.

The Minnesota Zoo's Wells Fargo Family Farm is one of the few places at the zoo where people can touch 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.

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.

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 occasional concerts after hours.

See also

• List of animals at the Minnesota Zoo

External links

• http://www.mnzoo.org
• Article about Russia's Grizzly Coast groundbreaking.

Gallery

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  An Amur Tiger at the Minnesota Zoo
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  A Grey nurse shark at the Minnesota Zoo
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  A Grey nurse shark at the Minnesota Zoo