Brevard Zoo

Brevard Zoo is a 75-acre nonprofit facility located in Melbourne, Florida, United States, that is home to more than 900 animals representing more than 195 species from Florida, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The zoo features animal feedings, kayak tours, behind-the-scenes tours, and a train ride, along with the attraction Treetop Trek. The zoo has also featured a dinosaur exhibit several times in its past; its most recent exhibit "Dinosaurs are Back" ran from November 2017 to April 2018. Brevard Zoo is a nonprofit organization accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The zoo is divided into four loops: Expedition Africa, Lands of Change: Australia and Beyond, Wild Florida, and Rainforest Revealed. These loops are accessed off of the main loop that encircles the flamingo pond.

History

In 1986, the East Coast Zoological Society of Florida, Inc. (ECZS) formed. One of their goals was to build a zoo for Brevard County to "serve as a conversation hub where people could gather to learn about animals and nature. A place to escape from the manmade world and reconnect with the diversity of the life with which we share this planet." In 1992, construction of the zoo began, with over 16,000 people coming together to help build the zoo. The Brevard Zoo claims to have had "The World's Largest Volunteer Community Build". Brevard Zoo celebrated its grand opening on March 26, 1994.

A record 328,973 visitors attended in 2007. This included 175,046 paid daily guests. The others included reciprocal members of other zoos, and annual members. The zoo has an annual budget of $5 million most of which is earned and not raised through fundraising or grants.

In October 2012, one of the southern white rhinos from this zoo was transferred to Alabama's Birmingham Zoo to take part in a breeding program with its two female southern white rhinos.

In 2014, the black-throated monitor died. It was donated to the zoo when it was two years old in 2005.

In 2017, the zoo renovated their Australia and Asia exhibits and reopened them as "Lands of Change: Australia and Beyond".

In 2019, the zoo renovated their La Selva exhibits and reopened then as "Rainforest Revealed".

Park areas

Wildlife Detective Training Academy

The Wildlife Detective Training Academy, or WDTA, was a building focused specifically towards younger children and features terrariums containing many of the zoo's reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, and a few mammals including chinchillas and flying squirrels. It also featured interactive activities, such as a sand pit, where children could dig up bones from an animal "crime scene", and an animal hospital where children could learn about animal anatomy and veterinary science. The WDTA also featured a new mystery every month in which children could investigate and find clues throughout the zoo. The building is located to the right of the main entrance in a separate building. After Paws On reopened in 2009, visitors had to go through Paws On to enter the WDTA. The WDTA did not reopen to the public after the zoo reopened after closing during the 2020 pandemic.

Expedition Africa

Expedition Africa offers kayaking on the grounds of the zoo. Trained staff lead the kayak trips and provide informative dialogue during a slow glide past African-themed exhibits. These exhibits include: Masai giraffes, impalas, Grévy's zebras, white rhinos, scimitar oryxes, dromedary camels, klipspringers, meerkats, a common ostrich, crested guineafowl, West African crowned cranes, southern ground hornbills, marabou storks and African spurred tortoises. The area also includes red ruffed and ring-tailed lemurs and radiated tortoises from Madagascar. After kayaking, visitors can climb up to an observation platform where they can feed the giraffes at eye-level. Siamangs are located in-between the entrances to the Expedition Africa and Lands of Change loops. Cheetahs were added in February 2010. Meerkats were added in 2014. Two zebra mares were added to the white rhino exhibit on President's Day 2015. The zoo also has a population of scimitar oryx, a species that has been extinct in the wild since 2000, On February 3, 2017, a new oryx calf was born at the zoo. On December 8, 2020, three two-year-old male Watusi cattle (Maximus, Boss Hogg and Galloping Ghost) arrived at the zoo from a ranch in Oklahoma, and the zoo's first eastern bongo (a five-year-old male named Sebastian from the Naples Zoo), who only has one horn—the other was surgically removed following an injury at a previous facility, came the next day.

Lands of Change: Australia and Beyond

As its name implies, this loop features animals from Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia and South America. Visitors can find animals such as the red kangaroos, emus, North Sulawesi babirusas, Visayan warty pigs, wrinkled hornbills and black swans. Lands of Change: Australia and Beyond also hosts the free-flight aviary where visitors have the option of feeding rainbow lorikeets. The aviary is home to: galahs, cockatiels, laughing kookaburras, Victoria crowned pigeons and radjah shelducks, among others. It is divided into two sections - the "lorikeet side" and the "cockatiel side". Right across from the aviary is a state of the art kangaroo walkabout where guests can get up close and personal with the zoo's kangaroos and emus. Inside the kangaroo walkabout, there are several solar panel "trees" that were donated to the zoo by Florida Power & Light. The solar panels provide shade for the kangaroos, but their most important function is that they provide all the energy for the Komodo dragon house, where two Komodo dragons are located. Siamangs, a type of gibbon, are located in-between the entrances to the Africa and Lands of Change: Australia and Beyond.

Wild Florida

The exhibit includes North American river otters, American alligators, American crocodiles, bald eagles, foxes, crested caracaras, sandhill cranes, turtles, American black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and bobcats. Feeding is demonstrated in this loop. There is also an area to kayak into the wetlands in the back. On May 1 2022, a trio of African lion brothers arrived at the zoo from the Naples Zoo. They are temporarily housed in the Florida loop until a permanent enclosure is built for them in Expedition Africa.

Rainforest Revealed (La Selva)

La Selva houses the zoo's black howler monkeys, jaguars, cotton-top tamarins, giant anteaters, golden-headed lion tamarins, black-handed spider monkeys, Chilean flamingos, macaws, tortoises, reptiles and fishes. This loop also feature's green iguanas, a Baird's tapir, a family of capybara, and a Linnaeus's two-toed sloth. In March 2007, a newly constructed vulture exhibit opened, which houses king vultures, turkey vultures and black vultures. Vulture feedings and demonstrations are offered to visitors much the same way they are conducted within the Wild Florida loop. The exhibit reopened under the new name, Rainforest Revealed.

Paws On

Paws On once provided a place for children to play in a playground, and a petting zoo for children to explore. The Contact Yard (petting zoo) had goats, chickens, a miniature horse, and a miniature donkey. It was closed for renovations in 2007. It reopened in April 2009 and now contains an updated Contact Yard, a shallow swimming area, an aquarium mimicking the underwater environment of the nearby Indian River Lagoon with animals such as tarpons, stingrays, and black drums; a viewing tank with horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, and Florida crown conchs; a pizzeria, and various other attractions aimed towards children of all ages. Exhibits from the old Paws On that were kept include the Soil Cube and the Whale Slide. The Contact Yard, recently renamed to The Barnyard, now contains alpacas, pygmy goats, an African spurred tortoise, and chickens. Other animals include eastern box turtles and dingos.

Operations

The zoo received 363,426 visitors in 2011, up 5% from the previous year.Business Briefs, "Brevard Zoo Attendance Up in 2011", ''SpaceCoast Business'' magazine, vol. 7, no. 1 (Melbourne, FL: April 2012), pg. 21. This represented the second highest number of visitors on record.

Gallery

File:Brevard Zoo Sign.jpg, Brevard Zoo sign on Murrell Road
File:American Alligator Brevard Zoo.jpg, American alligators
File:Visayan Warty Pig Piglet Brevard Zoo.jpg, Visayan warty pig piglet in Australia/Asia
File:White Rhino Brevard Zoo 01.jpg, White rhinos in Expedition Africa
File:Giraffes Brevard Zoo.jpg, Giraffes in Expedition Africa
File:GiantAnteater 4x6.jpg, Giant anteater
File:African Spurred Tortoise at Brevard Zoo.jpg, African spurred tortoise
File:American Crocodile at Brevard Zoo.jpg, American crocodile
File:Bald Eagle at Brevard Zoo.jpg, Bald eagle
File:Blue and Yellow Macaw at Brevard Zoo.jpg, Blue and yellow macaw
File:Coscoroba Swan Swimming.jpg, Coscoroba swan swimming
File:Jaguar at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Jaguar
File:Meerkat at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Meerkat
File:Radiated Tortoise at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Radiated tortoise
File:Scarlet Macaw at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Scarlet macaw
File:Zebras at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Zebras
File:Flamingos at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Flamingos
File:Rhino Drinking at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Rhinoceros drinking
File:Crocodillian eye at the Brevard Zoo.jpg, Crocodillian eye
File:Klipspringer at Brevard Zoo.jpg, Klipspringer

References

External links

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Buildings and structures in Melbourne, Florida
1994 establishments in Florida
Protected areas of Brevard County, Florida
Tourist attractions in Brevard County, Florida
Zoos established in 1994
Zoos in Florida