Future of Your Zoo

We’re bringing Asia to you! In this new area, you’ll stroll through ancient Asian temple ruins, get up close to red pandas, sand cats, Malayan tigers, and brilliantly-plumed birds. Huge gibbons will swing overhead as their songs resonate around you. Next you’ll find a new Tropical Discovery Center, home to the reptiles of Asia — including the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, as well as small mammals such as giant fruit bats.

The beautiful Lotus Pavilion will be a great community asset for meetings, weddings, and events. Kids will love exploring the exciting Angel Charity for Children World of Play adventure zone near the Conservation Learning Center. This phase also includes improvements completed in 2020 to the Zoo’s Welcome Plaza, as well as the new Flamingo Lagoon at the front of the Zoo.

Phase 2 will bring exciting and important improvements to the center of the zoo! This phase will add a new animal to the Africa area that Zoo guests have been requesting for years – hippos! You will be enchanted as you watch pygmy hippos floating by in their underwater viewing window or as they walk around in their spacious habitat. Reid Park Zoo will fulfill its promise of bigger spaces as we make improvements to night areas and outdoor habitats for lions, giraffes and more.

Phase 3, the final phase of this master plan, includes infrastructure improvements to the South America area, including better lighting and replacing aging plumbing. This will also include improved areas for the animals such as an improved pacu cave and other enhancements. Additionally, Phase 3 will include an expanded gift shop and conference room. Ahead of schedule: some of the Phase 3 projects such as the expanded Andean bear habitat completed in 2020 and the new sloth habitat opening in 2023, have been completed as smaller projects ahead of schedule.