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ZOO'S WATAINI GRASSLANDS DEDICATION SET FOR APRIL 4
BY: Rod HackneyMar. 31, 2008
ASHEBORO— State officials, donors and other invited guests will be on hand at April 4 ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the Watani Grasslands Reserve, an $8.5-million expansion of the North Carolina Zoo’s elephant and rhinoceros exhibits and holding facilities.
The event, set for 11:30 a.m., will mark the completion of a project begun more than 18 months ago. Construction has included a new $2.5-million elephant holding barn, expansion of the elephant exhibit from three-and-a-half to seven acres and transfer of the Southern white rhinos from their previous three-and-a-half-acre exhibit to the 40-acre African Plains habitat.
Named for a Swahili term meaning "fatherland," the Watani project has enabled the zoo to expand its rhino collection from three to nine animals and its elephant herd from three to seven. Nearly $7.2 million dollars for the project was raised by the N.C. Zoological Society, the zoo’s non-profit support organization, and helped create some of the largest and most modern facilities for the care and rearing of elephants and rhinos in American zoos.
The new exhibits, complete with a new immersion walkway and a host of new educational interpretive facilities for visitors, will open to the public the day after the dedication, on Saturday, April 5. Special events for visitors will include African musicians, dancers, storytellers and crafts displays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6.
Among the speakers for the ribbon cutting will be Dr. Martin Tchamba, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) official who has helped lead the N.C. Zoo’s elephant conservation program in Cameroon, Africa. Tchamba, director of conservation for WWF’s Central Africa Regional Program Office, and Dr. Mike Loomis, the zoo’s Chief Veterinarian, have been the primary architects of a 10-year project that utilizes satellite technology to document the migration patterns of elephants in and around several of Cameroon’s national parks. Their efforts have been directly responsible for major reductions in both elephant and human deaths as well as crop losses in the project areas.
Other speakers will include Dr. David Jones, director of the N.C. Zoo, Russ Williams, executive director of the Zoological Society, U.S. Representative Howard Coble (R-NC, 6th District) and Bill Ross, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the department of state government that operates the zoo.
For more information on the Watani Grasslands Reserve or general zoo information, visit the park’s Web site at www.nczoo.org. The zoo is located on Zoo Parkway (N.C. 159) six miles southeast of Asheboro off U.S. 64 and U.S. 220. Summer operating hours from April through October are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for children 2-12 and $8 for senior citizens 62-plus.
The zoo is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary; Michael F. Easley, Governor.