Jacksonville Zoo aims to fundraise $50M in 5 years

3 years ago 227

The Jacksonville Zoo hopes to go 1 of the apical zoos successful the country. It looks to rise $50 cardinal successful 5 years to marque that happen.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Zoo hopes to go 1 of the apical zoos successful the country.

It’s moving to rise $50 cardinal successful 5 years to assistance marque that happen. It is the largest fiscal run successful the zoo’s history.

The “Re-ZOO-Venation volition impact revamping immoderate of the older exhibits and making a large archetypal impression.

“What the Sydney Opera House does for Australia, this volition bash for Jacksonville,” said Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens enforcement manager Tony Vecchio.

The main entranceway volition determination to wherever the acquisition halfway is. The caller main entranceway is expected to beryllium the zoo’s main attraction.

“As they get done these gardens, that’s going beryllium that beautiful, immersive caller entry,” said Vecchio. “It’s similar thing anyone successful Jacksonville has seen before.

The archetypal grounds volition beryllium a Florida favorite. The Manatee River volition springiness visitors a panoramic presumption of their habitat, but Vecchio says the grounds is for much than looks-- it volition besides assistance the zoo rescue much injured manatees.

“Every manatee is considered wild, and the extremity is to get them backmost into the wild,” Vecchio said. “There volition beryllium manatees truthful they tin spell backmost to the wild.”

Plans besides see adding a state-of-the-art lion exhibit, on with a caller acquisition campus, an expanded elephant habitat, and bringing successful a caller taxon entirely: orangutans.

This fundraising effort is abstracted from the Zoo-A-Thon. News4Jax helped broadcast that lawsuit connected Sunday.

This twelvemonth it raised astir $92,000, acold abbreviated of its $350,000 goal. The wealth from that fundraiser goes toward feeding animals, maintaining the plants, and zoo programs.