The Future
In spring 2008, the National Zoo began construction on Elephant Trails, an innovative new home for its Asian elephants. The exhibit will include an Elephant Exercise Trek and a state-of-the-art trail through one of the Zoo's most beautiful, wooded areas. Elephant Trails: A Campaign to Save Asian Elephants is a comprehensive breeding, education, and scientific research program. It is designed to help scientists care for elephants in zoos and save them in the wild. The Zoo's Elephant House closed to the public on September 14, 2009 to let the next phase of Elephant Trails get underway. On warm days, the Zoo's three elephants are on view outside during exhibit hours but may occasionally be inside (and out of view). The first part of the new two-part 52 million dollar project opened in September 2010, expanding the zoo's former elephant area with a 5,700-square-foot (530 m2) barn, two new yards (one with a pool), and a quarter-mile walkway through woods, where the animals can exercise. The exhibit is expected to be completed in 2013.
The new Seal and Sea Lion exhibit will focus on the dynamic environment of the central California coast. Wave machines will keep the water moving, giving the marine mammals a chance to swim within a changing environment. The sea lion pool will have underwater features for the animals to explore. The exhibit and facilities will be constructed using sustainable practices, in the spirit of the exhibition's conservation messages. Visitors will be immersed in a multi-sensory experience that gives them the smell, sounds, look, and feel of the California coast, plus the chance to get up close to large marine mammals. They will have a chance to get their feet wet in an artificial tidepool and will learn about the delicate balance between human actions and the health of our coastlines. The Zoo's California sea lions have temporarily moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, and its gray seals have been moved to an off-exhibit area at the Zoo. The animals will return upon the new exhibit's opening in September 2012.
Read more about this topic: National Zoological Park (United States)
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