Volume 2, No. 12. June 28, 2002
Bicycle
built for zoo
Zoos are close cousins of the city park, even those that are not part of, or
grew out of, city parks. Today’s zoos share many qualities with parks:
spacious byways, plentiful flora, greenspace, shady places, large lakes and,
of course, wildlife. Now the Phoenix Zoo in Phoenix, Arizona, shares an attribute
common to many city parks: bikes and paddleboats.
Last year Wheel
Fun Rentals set up a concession as part of the Phoenix Zoo’s annual summer
promotion, which included extended evening hours. “They were so successful
that we looked to have them come in full time,” said Aimee Barwegen, the
zoo’s director of media and public relations. Four months ago the rental
company moved in permanently and began offering four-seat and two-seat bikes,
in addition to standard one-seaters.
Guests can take self-guided paddleboat tours on the lake, where they can see lemurs, spider monkeys and scarlet macaws. Cyclists can use the zoo’s main walkways to cover the zoo’s 125 acres (51 hectares). “We ask them to watch their speed, and most do,” Barwegen said. “You have the challenges with crazy teen-agers flying down the hills, but the results have been more positive than negatives."
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