Dear Friends,
The holidays are approaching and our events team is busy putting the finishing touches on ZooLights, where the Zoo is transformed into a wild wonderland of lights and festivities. We hope you can join us December 4-23, 26-30 and January 1-4 for magical evenings filled with over a million twinkling lights, snow, hot cocoa, festive entertainment and beloved holiday characters.
ZooLights is all about community and the Zoo is pleased to host several collections for neighbors and pets in need. You can save $1 off admission when you bring non-perishable food items for the Community Food Bank, pet food or toys for Cody’s Friends, or a new, unwrapped toy for La Frontera.
Pathway to Asia Making Swift Progress
If you’ve driven by the Zoo or visited recently, you may have noticed that construction crews are making remarkable progress on the new Pathway to Asia expansion. The sidewalk leading from the parking lot to the Zoo is now open with one small area around the big ZOO sign that has a little more work to go still fenced off.
Once that small area is done, striping will be completed on the loop drive to more visibly mark guest drop off points and crosswalks for guest convenience.
Walls on most of the buildings are up and the Robert Hamilton Tropical Discovery Center is particularly taking shape. This multi-featured habitat will include reptiles such as a reticulated python, the intriguing Komodo dragon, as well as straw-colored fruit bats. Each habitat within the Tropical Discovery Center has to be constructed in exacting detail to provide its future animal residents with just the right climate, water, and oxygen settings. The dragons, for instance, love the heat and being able to soak up the sun while lying on a warm rock. Their indoor-outdoor space will feature “hot rocks” that can be warmed in the cooler months so that they can sunbathe in comfort year-round.
In the center of Pathway to Asia, there is significant progress on the off-exhibit habitat for tigers and gibbons as well as space for zoo keepers to prepare food and enrichment, record notes and observations, etc. while caring for the animals. The tiger habitat also includes a cubbing den for the tigers, providing them with a secure spot for delivery and care of newborns. Reid Park Zoo is excited to welcome tigers back to Tucson and to soon become a conservation and breeding center for these highly endangered big cats with the new Pathway to Asia project.
And in ‘otter’ news, stunning rockwork, flowing waterfalls, and heated freshwater pools are being created for our Asian small clawed otters, Berani and Little Frei. Every care is being taken to provide the perfect blend of life support systems to keep their pools at just the right temperature. Once completed, the otter habitat will not only be the next thing to Club Med for the otters, it will also afford guests unprecedented and up-close viewing through a unique underground window where they can admire the otters and their swimming antics, while learning about these sprightly ecosystem engineers.
If weather holds and barring any delays, we are on track to open Pathway to Asia in late 2026.
While construction is continuing on Pathway to Asia, please note that there is no impact to guests or hindrances in entering and enjoying the Zoo.
Keeping the Zoo Clean and Maintained
Elsewhere around the Zoo, our Facilities team has been completing several maintenance projects to ensure the Zoo is clean, safe, and comfortable for the animals as well as our guests.
In South America, restrooms have been updated with a rainforest theme so you can feel as if you are in the middle of the jungle when you step inside. Local artist Alejandra Trujillo has completed a colorful new mural on the exterior of the South American aviary. A photo opportunity as well as a bright new embellishment for the aviary, the mural depicts the brilliant scarlet ibis and Blue-crowned Motmot bird species, two of the many birds you will find in the aviary.
The World of Play area has been refreshed with new painting and a series of deep cleanings. Children love the engaging hands-on activities of this adventure playground, including sliding down the Antarctic tunnel and exploring the life of penguins. And, in our elephant area, outside contractors worked with our Facilities and Elephant Care teams to repair a leak in the elephant pool. That project is now complete and the elephants are back on habitat with a clean pool to enjoy.
Thank you, Tucson!
New additions to the Zoo and repairs to existing facilities are made possible largely through the support of Tucson voters and funding from the one tenth of one percent sales tax approved in 2017. Thank you for your continued support of the Zoo and for helping keep your Zoo the very best it can be. We hope to see you soon.