Volume 1, No. 5. April 6, 2001
It’s a wetlands exhibit!
The Jacksonville Zoo in Jacksonville, Florida, announces the arrival of Wild Florida, March 30, 2001 (2.5 acres, 60 species, 140 animals, a reptile house, alligator feeding area, and entry pavilion). Delivered by Powers and Merritt.
The Jacksonville Zoo called on state pride to celebrate the opening of its latest $1.6 million refurb, which surrounds a natural wetland with such native species as black bears, otters, red wolves, bald eagles, bobcats, owl, deer, and panthers. Festivities began Friday evening with a ribbon-cutting dinner for the exhibit’s 25 donors, who did the honors with the scissors.
Over the weekend the public was treated to live bands that were themselves somehow "native" to Florida: bluegrass, steel drums, ’50s music, and "a band that played just about everything," said Angie Lindsey, the zoo’s marketing and communications manager. Sunday was mascot day featuring the University of Florida gators Albert and Alberta, the University of North Florida’s Ozzie the Osprey, the local minor league baseball team’s Southpaw, and the local WB TV affiliate’s Michigan J. Frog. And, of course, the real animals were given the spotlight in special interpretive programs for the public.
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