These are the official plans to Polar Frontier. The connection is being made by downsizing the Timber Wolf exhibit and creating a path between the Moose and Wolf exhibits. Brutus and Buckeye are getting their own yard that is just under an acre. The Polar Bear exhibit is over an acre and features a 167,000 gallon pool (with tunnel!) plus smaller tidal pools. We also have an arctic fox exhibit near the Education/Conservation Building. The new building will have a lot of expensive games and global warming scenarios and a viewing deck for the Polar Bears. It will also be the new Zoo High School and ZooAide Volunteer headquarters. It says it will be opening in late 2009 or 2010 but they could be done this spring if things keep progressing as they are. You also might have noticed they took the caribou out of the plans for some reason. And yes they are adding a park which will be the fourth playground once it and the Shores park are complete.
Much different from what I had anticipated A few questions.
Where does this exhibit's entrance tie into the North America visitor's path?
And is there a lot of space still open in this immediate area, after this exhibit is built, where the zoo may eventually add/expand exhibits?
If you remember the first viewing window of the Timber Wold exhibit, that half of the exhibit is being destroyed and a walkway will separate the Moose and Timber Wolf exhibits. That walkway will then head east until it reaches the new Education/Conservation building.
The zoo has a lot of space for all the other exhibits. Polar Frontier had ten acres ready to be developed. We are only using six. The other four will most likely be for Madagascar that will open with African Savannah. African Savannah will be located on seventy acres north of Polar Frontier. Central/South America can be in a number of places and we haven't decided where to put that region yet. I think it will be north of Asia Quest.
Four years ago, we said we would include Polar Bears, Seals, and Coastal birds. About a year ago we said we would include Polar Bears, Brown Bears, Caribou, and Arctic Fox. Since then we have eliminated the Caribou. There is a lot of unused space around the exhibit, like across from the main path. I think they will eventually add more species. Remember we already have a very complete North American collection. The only animals I could think of adding are Caribou, Seals, and Arctic Birds.
How much is it all costing? It might be pricey for only 7 animals, as 3 polar bears, 2 foxes and 2 grizzlies on 4 acres of space is an intriguing yet expensive expansion to the zoo. Columbus Zoo is already a great zoo, but it's interesting how few African species it has in comparison to its overall collection. I'm more excited for the 70-acre African Savanna...
As for African Savannah these are the species I have heard most of which have been in some rough drafts: (Note how a lot of species are similar to Herbivore/Carnivore)
African Elephant
Black Rhino (Transferred Over from Pachyderms)
Giraffe
Zebra
Giant Eland
Kudu
Gerenuk
Hippos
Nile Crocs
Lions
Cheetah
Hunting Dogs
Buffalo
Lechwe
Waterbuck
Sitatunga
Bongo
Ostrich
Vultures
Various Other Antelope and Birds (Cranes, Bustards, etc)
Well, like I said earlier the building will be headquarters for the ZooAides and the Zoo School. I have heard talk of a "theatre" showing a global warming video. Multiple video games for kids about global warming and conservation. There will also be interactive "scenarios" of global warming for adults. I have also heard visitors will be introduced to some of the field equipment and technology used by field researchers. These are all ideas I have heard, it really depends on how much of the building they allow to visitors.
