Blank Park Zoo Informations

Blank Park Zoo is a 49-acre zoological park on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa, United States, near historic Fort Des Moines. It is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and is the only accredited zoo in Iowa. The mission of the Blank Park Zoo is to inspire an appreciation of the natural world through conservation, education and recreation.

In 1963, A.H. Blank donated $150,000 for the construction of a children's zoo on decommissioned Fort Des Moines property. The Des Moines Children’s Zoo was officially opened on May 8, 1966. It was originally designed around nursery rhymes and included a castle with moat, replica of Noah's Ark, petting zoo and miniature railroad.

Over the next 16 years the city failed to make improvements to the zoo, and it was on the verge of closing until in 1981 a group of civic-minded business leaders formed the Blank Park Zoo Foundation to help save the zoo. The foundation's number-one goal was to provide financial support for capital improvements, animal acquisitions and promotional and marketing activities.

The foundation succeeded by forming a partnership with the City of Des Moines that resulted in a $1.8 million bond referendum, as well as an additional $1.4 million from the community. At the end of 1982 the zoo closed for some much needed renovations.

On May 17, 1986 the zoo reopened, featuring geographic themed exhibits with spacious, naturally landscaped environments. In 1987 the zoo was accredited by the AZA.

In 1995 the Blank Park Zoo Foundation purchased 25.3 acres (10.2 ha) of additional historic Fort Des Moines property and nine historic buildings for future growth and expansion of the zoo. It also began a capital campaign to build a new great cats exhibit and a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) indoor Discovery Center exhibit.

On May 1, 1999 the Tom and Jo Ghrist Great Cats exhibit opened, and on September 1, 2001, the Blank Park Zoo opened the Myron and Jackie Blank Discovery Center. On July 1, 2003 the Blank Park Zoo Foundation and City of Des Moines completed a new 28E agreement to transfer the operations and management of the zoo to the foundation. Terry Rich was hired as the zoo's first-ever chief executive officer, marking a new era in zoo history. Initial Spring Break and Holiday Safaris were introduced with much success.

In 2011, new signage and interactives were installed in the Great Cats kiosks, David Kruidenier Australia Adventure opened featuring the endangered cassowary, thewasea lion pool is rebuilt, and a special dinosaur exhibit was open all summer in the Zoo Plex.

The "Big Dig" event was held at Blank Park Zoo to generate excitement about expansion, with 8,000 in attendance.

Behind the scenes a new quarantine facility was constructed to help animal management, and a new veterinarian agreement with Iowa State University was signed.

The Blank Park Zoo contains a variety of wildlife in various exhibits.

The Discovery Center is an entirely enclosed area visitors encounter first when entering the zoo, and contains many different types of animal and plant life. The Discovery Center contains separate sections to create a unique viewing experience:

The Aquarium of the Discovery Center includes aquatic environments from all around the world. A waterfall feature can be seen above the Amazon River Pool. The pool includes tropical river fish such as tambaqui (Pacu), redtail catfish, and silver arowana. The coral reef exhibit is home to species of aquatic life from coral reefs around the world including coral, sea anemone, clown triggerfish, foureye butterflyfish, clownfish, schooling bannerfish, yellow tang, and Achilles tang. The Pacific Northwest Aquarium is home to species that are native to the cold waters off British Columbia, including white-spotted rose anemone, giant sea star, purple sea star, and kelp greenling.

The African Boardwalk takes visitors on an elevated trail through the African Savannah where visitors see native wildlife including the reticulated giraffe, grey crowned crane, lesser kudu, Ankole-Watusi cattle, ostrich, addax, black rhinos and helmeted guineafowl. This exhibit is currently[when?] being overhauled by the new African exhibit Jamaa Kwa: Africa, which opened in spring 2013.

Completed in July 2011, this Australian-themed section of the zoo brings visitors into the great Australian outback, which includes an Australian-themed barn, and many animals including double-wattled cassowary, laughing kookaburra, red-necked wallaby, common peafowl, and emu. The aviary within this exhibit is home to the rainbow lorikeet, red lory, cattle egret, chestnut teal, palm cockatoo, woodland kingfisher, Nicobar pigeon, and budgerigar.

In late June 2007, the zoo, the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, and hundreds of volunteers from around Des Moines built the Kids' Kingdom playground. It includes 5,600 sq ft (520 m2) of slides, mazes, monkey bars, sand pits, fossil digs, and mining sluice. This area features many "contact animals" that visitors can feed. Animals in this area include Nigerian dwarf goats, llamas, miniature donkeys, zebu, Meishan pigs, Brahma chickens, koi fish, trumpeter swans, and dromedary camels.

The cat exhibit opened in 1999 with snow leopards, Amur tigers, and African lions. Recently, this exhibit got a facelift with new interactive displays and new viewing area rocks.[when?]

The new seal/sea lion pool opened on March 17, 2012 after a year of reconstruction to the old pool. The exhibit now features two high-rise viewing areas, as well as an underwater viewing area of the zoo's two California sea lions and three harbor seals.

The newest residents to the pool are Ross and Meru, who came to the Blank Park Zoo from British Columbia. They were rescued off the coast of Canada when they were just five days old, severely malnuorished and dehydrated. The Vancouver Marine Mammal Rescue Center nursed them back to health. After examination, the center declared that they were non-releasable due to health disabilities. They found a permanent home at the zoo after the reconstruction of Hub Harbor, where they now reside.

In addition to animals in the major exhibits, the zoo includes many individual exhibits that are home to animals including bald eagles, Chilean flamingoes, North American river otters, black-tailed prairie dogs, Aldabra giant tortoise, ring-tailed lemurs, Magellanic penguins, common squirrel monkeys, king vultures, white-handed gibbons, and Japanese macaques.

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