St. Louis' world-class zoo keeps adding new exhibits.
Aug 6, 2013, 2:33pm CDT
Zoo closes penguin exhibit as $18 million polar bear updates begin
Beginning later this month, visitors to the Saint Louis Zoo won’t be able to visit the penguins and puffins. That exhibit will be closed until 2015 as the zoo begins construction on an $18 million polar bear habitat.
McDonnell Polar Bear Point will encompass more than 7,000 square feet and will be able to hold up to five polar bears, Gallagher said. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for polar bears will decide which bears the zoo receives. Polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act of 2008.
The zoo expects to have bears for the opening of its exhibit, but those animals have yet to be identified.
The new exhibit will feature rocky landscapes and new pools. A walk-through cave will allow visitors to get close to the polar bears. Gallagher said the zoo is still trying to determine the exact construction time line, and said those dates will be announced soon.
The exhibit is part of the zoo’s $120 million The Living Promise Campaign. To date, more than $111 million in commitments have been secured for that objective, in which there are goals to update the Grizzly Bear, Sun Bear and Andean Bear exhibits, among others, according to zoo officials.
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