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on August 06, 2013
on August 06, 2013
In this file photo, a Royal Bengal tiger roars at the Dhaka zoo at Mirpur district in Dhaka, Bangladesh The zoo last had a tiger in 2009 but the female tiger was sent to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, N.D., under a species survival plan in collaboration with other zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Interim Zoo Director Andy McIntyre said the former tiger had better breeding prospects in North Dakota, while zoo officials here raised money for an improved exhibit that’s been part of the zoo’s master plan since 2005.
The new exhibit is the first phase of a proposed $4.5 million project for which the John Ball Zoo Society is currently raising money. The society so far has raised $4 million, allowing construction of the project’s first phase to include a holding area, habitat and viewing area and a concession building with new restrooms.
The second phase would include a second and smaller habitat offering visitors a closer viewing experience. The two phases can be constructed independently, though the smaller habitat in the second phase includes a water feature that would give visitors an added perspective on how tigers live, McIntyre said.
“It’s tremendously exciting to have a species of that magnitude, that kind of awe-inspiring species, returning to the zoo,” McIntyre said. “It will be the first major exhibit in the Idema Forrest Realm.”
The Idema Forest Realm opened last summer. The recommendation is scheduled for consideration Thursday by the full county board. If approved as expected, construction would begin next month and the exhibit open to visitors by late next summer, McIntyre said.
“We try to offer the animals a wonderful habitat and visitors a good experience,” McIntyre said. “This will offer us two habitats for the tigers and the ability to show visitors how they live in two different environments.”
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