Star Tribune Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:29:05 GMT
Minnesota Zoo heads into new territory
The Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley is less than 40 days away from the launch of an eye-opening new exhibit. Will Branning was mayor of Apple Valley 30 years ago, when the Minnesota Zoo opened in his city. "We were from Seattle," he said, "so we were familiar with the look of a major, modern zoo. And to come here and find only the cages at Como Park was a letdown." And yet Minnesota's state zoo was only partially built. "There was this grand, $50 million plan," he said. But only part of it ever got built. So it was moving for him, now a member of the zoo's board, to be taken on a tour late last week of what the zoo is calling Russia's Grizzly Coast, a compact but artfully serpentine $30 million exhibit that is to open June 7. ... But mainly he wanted them to see what he believes guests will find a "killer" exhibit, one that aims to transport them to the Kamchatka Peninsula, on Russia's eastern coast. Standing inside a mock lava tube, which mimics what happens in real volcanic zones, he showed them a rocky trickling stream that keepers will stock with live fish so the three newly arrived grizzly bears will lunge for food as visitors watch from behind a long sheet of glass. "We'd like to have the bears actively looking for food all day," he said, "as they do in nature, rather than hanging around for their 5 o'clock feeding."
[[keywords: Parks;Metro;]]
No comments:
Post a Comment