Sedgwick County Zoo facts for kids

The Sedgwick County Zoo is an AZA-accredited wildlife park and major attraction in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1971 with the help of the Sedgwick County Zoological Society, the zoo has quickly become recognized both nationally and internationally for its support of conservation programs and successful breeding of rare and endangered species. Having over 3,000 animals of nearly 400 species, the zoo has slowly increased its visitors and now ranks as the number one outdoor tourist attraction in the state.

Exhibits

African village-themed area at the entrance to Downing Gorilla Forest

Downing Gorilla Forest

Downing Gorilla Forest starts out in a recreation of a small Congo village with exhibits for De Brazza's monkey, colobus monkey, pink-backed pelican, and white pelican. Across a bridge is an exhibit for saddle-billed stork, as well as one for black crowned crane and okapi. The main attraction is a large gorilla exhibit. They can be viewed in their indoor home, outside through large viewing windows or across a moat.

Lioness with (imitated) zebra kill

Pride of the Plains

A path winds around exhibits of lions, red river hogs, and two exhibits of meerkats. Each exhibit has several views from all sides. The whole area has a kopje theme with giant boulders. At the end is an exhibit for African painted dogs.

Penguin Cove

Opened in 2007, Penguin Cove is the zoo's first marine exhibit, and home to a colony of Humboldt penguins. The $1.5 million exhibit features a 42,000-US-gallon (159,000 L) pool with rocky areas and coves on each side.

African Veldt

This exhibit features reticulated giraffes, African bush elephants, hippos, and eastern black rhinos. On 11 March 2016, six African elephants arrived at the zoo from Eswatini to escape a drought. A new elephant exhibit named "The Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley" opened in May of that year, housing all of the elephants.

Later, a male African elephant, Ajani, from Birmingham Zoo, joined the six female elephants for breeding purposes in May 2018.

Tiger Trek

This $3 million Asian themed naturalistic exhibit was opened in 2009, and houses Amur tigers, Malayan tigers, red pandas, bar-headed geese, brow-antlered deer, and more.

List of animals

Cessna Penguin Cove

Future

The zoo is currently making a new zoo entrance and a new elephant management complex, as well as some new additions to the Amphibians and Reptiles building. They also have been expanding and moving the majority of exhibits, and planning on adding a lodge, water park, and savannah exhibit.