History
The Municipal Zoo opened in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida on May 12, 1914. The first animal on exhibit was a red deer fawn.
On July 19, 1925, the Zoo moved to a 37.5-acre (152,000 m2) site on the Trout River off Heckscher Drive in North Jacksonville. Over the course of the next forty years, the Zoo continued to grow in area and in terms of animals on display.
Perhaps the most significant animal in the Zoo's history was a jaguar named "Zorro." Zorro was a male, wild-born black (melanistic) jaguar that arrived at the Zoo in August, 1967. At that time, black jaguars were very rare in captivity. During Zorro's 19 years at the Zoo (he died in September, 1986) he fathered numerous kittens that were sent to other zoos across North America. In the spring of 2003, the Jax Zoo investigated and could not find a current North American captive born black jaguar that was not a descendant of Zorro.
By the end of the 1960s, the Zoo was reputed to have the largest collection of exotic animals in the Southeast, but it had fallen on hard times and a great deal of money was needed to save the zoo. Community leaders, under the direction of Mayor Hans Tanzler, appointed a seven member committee to search for an alternative to closing the Zoo.
A major redevelopment of the Zoo began in 1992. Through a combination of public funds and private donations, over $20 million was raised to complete Phase One of the Zoo's Master Plan. Projects completed include a new front entry gate and parking lot, the Main Camp entrance, Birds of the Rift Valley Aviary, Great Apes, an expanded train ride, an elephant and breeding complex, RiverBranch Foundation Animal Medical Center, the PepsiCo Foundation Education Campus, and redevelopment of the 11-acre (45,000 m2) Plains of East Africa.The zoo also includes ,,and the
In December 2003, the zoo's name was officially changed from the Jacksonville Zoo to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Over the next five years, several new exhibits and services, including the famed Range of the Jaguar, the Savanna Blooms botanical garden, and the Children's Play Park successfully opened to the public. In addition, the zoo has endeavored to become recognized as a botanical garden.
Currently, the Zoo sits on 89 acres (360,000 m2) of land, over twice its original size on the Trout River location. The Zoo houses over 2,000 rare and exotic animals and over 1,500 unique plant species and participates in many preservation and breeding programs to ensure the survival of endangered and threatened species as well as local fauna and flora. And now includes the Magellanic pengiuin exhibit in the education campus,and the Komodo dragon exhibit in the Asian bamboo garden
Read more about this topic: Jacksonville Zoo And Gardens
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