North Carolina Zoo Future Plans: Asia (2022) & Australia

nczoofan

nczoofan

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
The North Carolina zoo finally seems to be moving forward with its longterm expansion and renovation plans.The Republican supermajority in the legislature finally seems willing to support expansion of one of the only state owned zoos in the country. Along with Democratic Governor roy cooper they have decided to fund fixes to the maintenance backlog. They have also given 2.5 million to finish planning of the upcoming asian & Australian exhibits. These are all part of the zoo's plan to expand visitation from 800,000 to 1.5 million people a year over the next decade. Below I will outline the upcoming exhibits and other developments.

Screen_Shot_2018-07-05_at_5.35.10_PM.png

Australia:​
This exhibit is not planned to open until after Asia, yet is farther along in the planning process. It will be built between the red wolf and desert exhibits. It will include the following elements:
- Walk-through kangaroo exhibit and a second exhibit for separating males
- Indoor and outdoor exhibits for tree kangaroo
- An indoor crocodile monitor exhibit
- 2 outdoor Cassowary exhibits
- An additional aviary for unspecified birds
- A dining pavilion and education center
- Wallabies are mentioned as well, yet it is unclear if they will be mixed into the kangaroo walkthrough.

Screen_Shot_2018-07-05_at_5.35.45_PM.png

Asia:​
The zoo aims to break ground on this exhibit in 2020 and open it in 2022. This expansion will be split into 2 phases. Despite this exhibit being planned to open prior to Australia, it is behind in regards to its planning. Below are the main elements that have been mentioned for both phases of the exhibit.
Phase 1:
- Red Panda
- Komodo Dragon (with underwater viewing)
- Tiger
- Cafe and Events Center (With room for 300)
Phase 2:
- Asian-small clawed otter
- Hornbills
- Vulture

The site plans are hard to read, yet it appears to include warty pigs, crane and several other species. This expansion will likely be right across from the new Australia exhibit, in between both of the existing continents. In the past babirusa and monkeys have been mentioned as well, yet they were not mentioned in this latest release.

Other construction projects:​
- Demolition of the long-vacant African pavilion in 2020. This will be replaced with a conservation education center & deck to look out on African plains
- A new baboon holding building that will enable the demolition of the African pavilion.
- $1.7 million renovation of the Forest Aviary. This will replace the current glass panels and repair the heating/air-conditioning systems.
- Construction of a new bird holding facility to enable renovation of the Forest Aviary.
- Plans are being worked on to expand the zoos current parking lots
- In 2020 the state will finish construction of a new parkway that will connect directly to the zoos entrance. This will remove the zoo traffic from local roads, which were often congested.



Source's:
Zoo Part 3: Repairs and renovations
Parking, moving people critical to N.C. Zoo's growth
Focus: N.C. Zoo plans Asia and Australia regions
 
A few more notes:
- The zoo appears to have dropped Orangutans from the Asia plans.
- The conversion of the Cypress Swamp into a South American themed exhibit seems to have been abandoned.
- Much of the maintenance backlog relates to off-exhibit housing. The zoo is afraid that if they do not replace these areas, they may fail their AZA inspection.
- The zoo is looking to expand its red wolf breeding center in coming years. This is largely a result of the US Fish & Wildlife Service giving up on the reintroduction effort in eastern North Carolina.
 
Thanks for all of the great updates...keep us posted! ;) I think that the North Carolina Zoo is one of the 10 best zoos in the USA.
 
Thanks very much for the update and breakdown of what is planned. This is a zoo that I would like to visit someday. It has a reputation as an excellent zoo, but one that has not really built any new exhibits for a long time. The articles indicate that the last new exhibit zone, North America, opened in 1994! To the NC Zoo's credit they have modernized their existing exhibits continuously in the last 25 years.

Their Australia plans sound very similar in exhibit design and species collection to the new Australia zone at the San Diego Safari Park.
 
DavidBrown said:
Thanks very much for the update and breakdown of what is planned. This is a zoo that I would like to visit someday. It has a reputation as an excellent zoo. Their Australia plans sound very similar in exhibit design and species collection to the new Australia zone at the San Diego Safari Park.
Click to expand...

Definitely would recommend a visit to the NC Zoo. As Snow Leopard said it is one of the 10 best zoos in the country (3rd best I have visited after Bronx & San Diego). Living in Raleigh I am equidistant from the zoo and the affiliated Sylvan Heights Bird park, which balances out the zoos below par bird collection. Also in the area is the Duke Lemur Center, which is an amazing place to see some rare lemur species. Overall after living in NC for 3 years, I have found it to be a great zoo for zoos & aquariums.

The San Diego Safari Park comparison popped into my head as well when I initially saw the plans for the exhibit. It has almost the same exhibits as that zoo, with the main difference being this exhibits location in a mature pine forest. The Asian exhibit seems like Jacksonville's newer tiger exhibit to me with a focus on rotation and some similarities in species makeup.
 
nczoofan said:
The San Diego Safari Park comparison popped into my head as well when I initially saw the plans for the exhibit. It has almost the same exhibits as that zoo, with the main difference being this exhibits location in a mature pine forest. The Asian exhibit seems like Jacksonville's newer tiger exhibit to me with a focus on rotation and some similarities in species makeup.
Click to expand...

To add: Safari Parks Asutralia exhibit was also in an arboretum of conifers.

Definitely agree with the sentiment of the strength of NCZoo and its exhibits.
 
The (newly-designed) website now states the Asia region will open in 2023.

Habitats | North Carolina Zoo

An updated site plan is available for viewing.

asia-site-plan-for-minutes.jpg


The following animals can be spotted in the plan. They did not list specific species for some of them.

Red Panda
Komodo Dragon
Tiger (maybe Malayan?, only guessing that as Greensboro is getting those)
Warty Pig? (bottom right)
Otter (can't imagine it being any species other than Asian Small-clawed)
Hornbill
Vulture
Crane
Chinese Alligator
Some species of primate (may not Orangutan as said above; probably some smaller species?)
Pavilion at top appears to contain terrariums

The Asia exhibits will be located in the North America region, by the prairie. The entrance to the Asia region will be at the Geyser.

@nczoofan thanks for the rest of the info regarding the behind-the-scenes maintenance plan. Some comments...

Demolition of the long-vacant African pavilion in 2020. This will be replaced with a conservation education center & deck to look out on African plains
Click to expand...
So it looks like it might finally happen now, as it has been closed since at least 2007 iirc. However, a part of me is disappointed that they won't be replacing it with a new exhibit, considering the lack of species in the Africa region compared to NA (I think a new aquatic complex was planned at one point, but that appears to have fallen on the wayside).

Also, per the current map, the Baboon trail and Antelope loop are now closed for renovation, meaning the Baboon exhibit, Pavilion deck, and stuff beyond that is currently closed off.

The conversion of the Cypress Swamp into a South American themed exhibit seems to have been abandoned.
Click to expand...
At one point, I read somewhere that they planned on converting Streamside into an Amazon-themed complex.
 
@Astrotom3000 Thanks very much for all of the updates. I'm a huge fan of the North Carolina Zoo and consider it one of the 10 finest zoos that I've ever visited. An Asian zone is long overdue!
 
Maybe they are opening it as a single phase in 2023? Anyways this project looks really great. I enjoy that it is focusing less on getting all of the popular large species, and focusing more on smaller-more endangered species. Anyways its exciting that the zoo is finally looking forward. I imagine the new baboon nighthouse is now under construction, so that the african pavilion can be demolished.
 
Milwaukee Man said:
An article about the upcoming expansions - including some cool exhibit concept designs! :)

NC Zoo announces multi-million dollar expansion plan
Click to expand...

Looks like a great addition to the zoo. Sure has taken its time and still some years to come, but glad to see progress, especially on Asia. Australia being unfunded as of now and a further 20 million will take some more time but I am hopeful.

As of now while the Asia exhibit is still evolving, the species list seems to be pretty refined. From what I am seeing, it will be:
  • Red Panda
  • Tiger
  • Komodo Dragon
  • Primate (likely gibbon)
  • Chinese Alligator
  • Warty Pig
  • Crane (sp?)
  • Hornbill (sp?)
  • Vulture (sp?)
  • Asian Small clawed otter
  • Smaller exhibits (at least 8 in the komodo dragon building)
One interesting thing is that the species list of this section will in many ways align with the animals seen at the Greensboro Science Center, just 45 minutes north.
 
The zoo has posted on Facebook that wrinkled hornbill will be the hornbill species exhibited in Asia. Gibbon also have been confirmed as the planned primate species. Also I attached the newest site plan for the Asian exhibit below.

https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/5127936_020819wtvdnczoonewexhibit002.jpg

Construction is slated to begin early next year and be completed by 2023. It does not seem the complex is slated to open in phases as originally planned.

Lastly the zoo has acquired 2 young komodo dragon recently, who will be exhibited in the desert dome until construction is complete.
 
very exciting, although I could have sworn the zoo had kangaroos when I visited in early 2000s--and maybe echidna (?) and some other Australian animals. what happened?
 
AbileneBoy said:
very exciting, although I could have sworn the zoo had kangaroos when I visited in early 2000s--and maybe echidna (?) and some other Australian animals. what happened?
Click to expand...

The exhibit was called Australian walkabout and was their for 2 years, before being replaced by the kidzone. It had kangaroo, kookaburra (now in desert dome), wallaby, among other species.
 
nczoofan said:
  • Asian Small clawed otter
  • Smaller exhibits (at least 8 in the komodo dragon building)
One interesting thing is that the species list of this section will in many ways align with the animals seen at the Greensboro Science Center, just 45 minutes north.
Click to expand...

When the African Pavilion still had animals in it did North Carolina Zoo have one of the African otter species? Speaking of which, has the pavilion been demolished?
 
ctfctf7 said:
Does anyone know what species of tiger they intend to display?
Click to expand...

The zoo has not said yet, although I imagine given the more tropical theme of the exhibit it will be either sumatran or malayan (nearby Greensboro Science center will be acquiring these in December).
 
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