Gulf Breeze Zoo facts for kids
| Date opened | 1984 (as The Zoo Northwest Florida), 18 February 2010 (as Gulf Breeze Zoo) |
|---|---|
| Location | Woodlawn Beach, Florida, United States |
| Land area | 50 acres (20 ha) |
| Coordinates | 30°24′04″N 86°59′04″W / 30.401141°N 86.984391°W |
| No. of animals | 900 |
| Major exhibits | train ride, petting area |
The Gulf Breeze Zoo (originally The Zoo Northwest Florida) is a 50-acre (20 ha) zoo located in Woodlawn Beach, Florida, neighboring Navarre and Gulf Breeze, Florida. It has over 900 exotic animals including rhinos, hippos, Western lowland gorillas, and orangutans that visitors can view during an African preserve train ride. Activities include hand-feeding of some animals including giraffes. The Gulf Breeze Zoo supports captive breeding, wildlife conservation, and habitat preservation programs.
History
Plagued by financial troubles since Hurricane Ivan struck the area in 2004, the zoo closed on August 17, 2009, awaiting the decisions from the governments of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to provide $125,000 each in funding.
On August 20, 2009, zoo officials announced that the closure of the zoo would be permanent.
The zoo was purchased by Virginia Safari Park of Natural Bridge, Virginia. in December 2009, and was reopened on February 18, 2010, as Gulf Breeze Zoo.
Exhibits
A path through the zoo gardens lets visitors see many animals including primates, big cats, marsupials, Procyonidae, tortoises, and birds. It leads to a large petting area, a giraffe feeding station, and a walk-through parakeet enclosure. Some other exhibits throughout the park include Rocky the red river hog, black bears, a flying fox, otters, an alligator, and camels.
Primate exhibits include lemurs, gibbons, siamangs, tamarinds, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, chimps, gorillas, including baby Kigali, a moustached guenon, and marmosets.
Big cats on display include cougars, tigers, a one-year-old lion, named Zion, and a clouded leopard.
There are many birds throughout the park. Some in exhibits and some roaming the zoo. The birds you can see here are chickens, peacocks, owls, macaws, rhea, emu, ostriches and many other interesting species of birds.
A raised boardwalk lets visitors see herds of deer, antelope, and emu, as well as African wild dogs, capybara, named Pigmalion, Piggy Sue, Wilburta and Lord Piggington, kudu, and chimps on Chimp Island.
A miniature train takes visitors on a 20-minute guided tour, where they can see impala, deer, antelope, zebras, and white rhinos roaming in a 30-acre (12 ha) enclosure, and get a close view of gorillas and Nile hippos.
