Mesker Park Zoo Exhibit Has Animal Magnetism
Published Feb 11, 2009
A scarlet ibis is part of the Amazonia exhibit at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden in Evansville.
If you thought you had to fly to South America to visit the rainforest, think again.
Evansville’s 50-acre Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden opened its newest exhibit, Amazonia, in August 2008, and it lets visitors get up close and personal with swinging monkeys, colorful toucans, slithering snakes and other South American animal species.
Amazonia is the biggest project the zoo has completed in its 78-year history, says Stephanie Sanderson, visitor services curator for Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. The exhibit includes an indoor rainforest with 10,000 square feet of public space. Jaguars, toucans, porcupines, tarantulas, tree boas, howler monkeys and turtles are among the residents in the lush, tropical setting.
Amazonia has helped the zoo set new attendance records, attracting 38,000 visitors in its first 30 days after opening.
“We’re getting people from all over Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky,” Sanderson says. “I don’t think there’s anything like Amazonia in the entire Midwest. You certainly don’t feel like you’re in Evansville.”
Tropical trees give Amazonia an authentic feel, and a roaring waterfall and suspension bridge add to its ambiance.
Throughout the rest of the zoo, more than 700 animals and thousands of exotic plant species also thrive.
“We have a great giraffe exhibit that lets you get really close to the animals, and our Indian rhinoceros exhibit is really nice,” Sanderson says. “Kids love our wonderful otter exhibit, because they can crawl into a glass tunnel and watch the otters swim over and around them.”
The zoo’s horticulture staff works to make sure the environments surrounding the animals are similar to the habitats from which they came.
“We use plants that resemble those in the areas the animals are from, like bamboo near the Asian exhibits,” says Misty Minar, Mesker Park zoo horticulturist. “We have some unusual plant species at the zoo, including hardy bananas, hardy elephant ears and hardy palms.”
The first weekend in May, the zoo hosts its annual plant sale, where the public can purchase some of its rare and unusual plants. “We grow them all in our greenhouse, and people love it,” Minar says.
The zoo hosts several highly anticipated annual events, including the Boo at the Zoo Halloween event in October.
“There are crafts, face painting and magic shows, and you leave with a bag full of goodies,” Sanderson says. “It’s also neat because you get to explore the zoo in an evening setting, which you rarely get to do.”
In 2009, the zoo will be raising money for a new African-themed project that will include lions, meerkats and other African species, and will open an Aldabra Tortoise exhibit that will feature the world’s second-largest tortoise species.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Brian McCord
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