The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is a zoo located in Jacksonville. It sits at the mouth of the Trout River. The zoo occupies approximately 110 acres (45 ha) and has over 2,000 animals in its collection. The zoo has grown from its modest beginnings in Springfield to be considered one of the city's premiere attractions.
The zoo's marquee attraction is the Range of the Jaguar, which won the 2005 AZA Exhibit of the year award. The exhibits highlights animals native to Neotropical Rainforests. The zoo's other exhibits include the Plains of East Africa, highlighting African Savannah animals; Great Apes of the World, featuring 3 of the 4 Great Apes among other primates; the Australian Outback, including lorikeets, cassowarys, and kangaroos.
The zoo is active in animal conservation, participating in over 20 SSP (Species Survival Plans.) In 2004, the zoo reached an agreement with the nation of Guyana to help promote conservation in that country, particularly the Iwokrama Rainforest. Additionally, since 1999 the zoo has been home to a large breeding colony of woodstorks.
Read more about Jacksonville Zoo And Gardens: History, Management and Finance, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words zoo and/or gardens:
“The zoo cannot but disappoint. The public purpose of zoos is to offer visitors the opportunity of looking at animals. Yet nowhere in a zoo can a stranger encounter the look of an animal. At the most, the animal’s gaze flickers and passes on. They look sideways. They look blindly beyond.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“Our fathers wrung their bread from stocks and stones
And fenced their gardens with the Redman’s bones;”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)