Montgomery Zoo Montgomery Zoo News

On May 20th, it was reported that the zoo will get a $4.2 million plan to renovate the entrance area of the facility, adding in 2 more ticket booths, a new plaza area, and new restrooms. Construction would start in mid-June and will take around a year till completion, with a temporary entrance being established by the museum.

Montgomery Zoo could get multimillion-dollar renovation
ACTION 8 UPDATE: Montgomery City Council approves renovations to Montgomery Zoo - WAKA 8
I don’t know why, but I’ve been looking forward with the entrance upgrades that several zoos across the southern U.S have been planning / working on completing. So this will be a very welcome change if all goes according to plan.
 
On June 12th, the zoo announced that the Reptile House will close permanently on June 15th, with a temporary exhibit called Reptile Junction opening on June 18th.

Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum
They have found a perfect middleground between updating facilities, closing old ones and creating new developments and exhibits. In all this they do effectively take the local communities on board.

BTW: I would love to know how the budget of the Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum is made up and what it actually looks like. Also, how much of the income is actually accrued for donations and large bursaries from local community and bigger corporations???!

POST SCRIPTUM: Really looking forward to this new project and a new Reptile House in future! Does anybody have any idea as to what they are planning and what species or even theming it will be?
 
Fantastic news. The current reptile house was the worst part of the zoo by a very wide margin during my visit last month - I'd believe you if you told me the carpeted floor hadn't been cleaned since the 90s. There was signage indicating that a new reptile house was coming soon, but without any further context I had no idea if that was imminent or 10 years down the line. Can't wait to see how the new one shapes up.
 
The reptile house is supposed center around 4 major species: Gharial, Komodo, King Cobra and Aldab/Galap Tortoise. I'm sure other species are planned but I am not aware what they may be
 
The reptile house is supposed center around 4 major species: Gharial, Komodo, King Cobra and Aldab/Galap Tortoise. I'm sure other species are planned but I am not aware what they may be
Given that quite a few US / AZA zoos do have excellent herp collections and housing ..., I am well chuffed. Any idea on whether there Is a timeline and perhaps a project brief and build or plan for the new Reptile House?
 
Piece of June 2025 News Not Mentioned:

On June 22nd, it was reported that the zoo's former Director of 17 years (2001-2018), Douglas Goode III, sadly passed away on June 11th at age 69.

Douglas Goode III Obituary - Montgomery Advertiser

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On July 8th, the zoo announced that 2 more American flamingos hatched, which are now on exhibit.

Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum

On July 7th, the zoo announced they named the flamingos Puddles and Uyumi (Salar de Uyumi salt flat) respectively. The zoo also announced that a 4th American flamingo, named Pippi, hatched on July 8th.

Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum
 
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