WHAT’S NEW AT THE ZOO?
The Toledo Zoo has a special offer for mothers and fathers this year. This Mother’s Day all mothers are admitted FREE courtesy of TV Channel 5. Also on Father’s Day all fathers are admitted free. Many changes have taken place at the zoo since we were there with our grandchildren a couple of years ago.
From the new enlarged parking lot off the Anthony Wayne Trail, visitors enter a brick courtyard which houses the information booth, a new large gift shop and the ticket booth. The gift shop, called the North Star Trading Post, features stuffed toys, I especially liked the gleeful orangutan, animal books, butterfly nets, ceramic frogs, birdhouses and other items for the garden. A continuously running video shows the work of the zoo veterinarians. Last but not least, the trading post houses the Timberline Bakery which features muffins, cookies and gourmet coffees. A small courtyard off of the bakery offers a place to sit and relax while eating.
The old damp echoing tunnel under the Anthony Wayne Trail has been replaced by an accessible ramp to an enclosed bridge over the trail. The ramp gently slopes upward and circles the bald eagle’s hang-out. All along the bridge are casts of animal tracks so that children can compare the size and shape of human footprints with those of the elephant, hippo, or gorilla.
To the left is the pond home of two trumpeter swans and a number of ducks. Across from them is a completely new area, Tiger Terrace, which houses Siberian tigers and sloth bears. This spacious simulated natural habitat has glass viewing stations, so that visitors can be nose to nose to the tigers if they choose to abandon their perches and view the visitors close up.
Playful penguins swim across from the tigers. An underwater viewing station is a great attraction for the children. Beyond their home is the African Savanna where elephants, giraffes, leopards, and rhinos roam free in a natural environment. The Toledo Zoo is renown for its popular hippo exhibit where visitors walk right next to the hippos as they swim under water.
The most attractive change at the zoo is the new aviary. The WPA-built aviary was completely gutted, and from the spacious lobby throughout the building, interesting exhibits using the most modern techniques for housing birds are used. Visitors can sit inside and watch birds and squirrels at an outdoor “backyard” feeding station. They use large juice cans below the feeding platforms to foil the squirrels who have several other places to eat. A wounded bird station cares for birds which have lost a foot or wing and cannot return to the wild. Patrons of the zoo can call 4l9 877-0060 of Nature’s Nursery to get information for caring for a wounded bird or they can bring it to the nursery near Oak Openings.
At the next station children were excitedly climbing into and emerging from a giant egg. What a wonderful photo opportunity!
In several other areas like the Australian outback desert, birds are flying free among the visitors or perched in a well designed natural habitat. The learning, hands-on exhibits include feathers, a piano which “plays” a different bird call on each key and a “juke box” that plays bird music.
Even the designers of the fence of an area under construction have a sense of humor. Colorful “peep here” signs invite visitors to peep through holes both high and low to see the machinery. In June a new Primate Forest will be open to the public.
I have always delighted in eating inside the former cages of the lions and tigers in the Carnivore Café and watching people go by. The building is bright with pastel colors and blue bars.
In the Diversity of Life and the BUGS exhibit, children were running from one station to another, looking at insect parts under microscopes, examining a large mock-up of a bee hive and other natural exhibits. The humor in the BUGS room is apparent right away. The largest “bug” is a Volkswagon. Six foot photos of preying mantis and spiders greet you as you turn a corner.
I have only mentioned the newer attractions at the zoo and there are many others. One new feature are the Toledo Zoo Birthday Safaris. The zoo will plan a birthday party for a minimum of ten children which includes cake and ice cream, scavenger hunts, face painting and unlimited train and carousel rides and other goodies. Information is available at 4l9 385-5721.
The Zoo can be reached by exiting the Ohio Turnpike at Exit 4, traveling a short distance north on Reynolds Road , turning right on Glendale Avenue, then left toward Toledo on the Anthony Wayne Trail.
-- Mary