Riverbanks Zoo and Garden Full Tour - Columbia, SC - Part 1
The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is a 170-acre (69 ha) zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden located along the Saluda River in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. A small portion of the zoo extends into the nearby city of West Columbia. It is operated by the Rich-Lex Riverbanks Park Special Purpose District, a partnership of the city of Columbia and Richland and Lexington counties. It is overseen by the Riverbanks Park Commission, comprising two members each from the three governments and one at-large member.
Animals and Exhibits:
The zoo is home to over 2,000 animals, with collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. In 2002, additions included exhibits for African elephants, gorillas, and koalas. The Birdhouse at Riverbanks (opened 2001) was given a Significant Achievement Award by the AZA as one of the best new zoo exhibits in the United States, and features a display of king, rockhopper, and gentoo penguins. The Zoo 2002 plan cost $15 million.
African Plains is a 2-acre (0.81 ha) exhibit featuring giraffe, Grant's zebra, and ostrich.[3] In the 90s, the zoo had a hippo and rhinos.
The Aquarium Reptile Complex (opened in 1989 as part of the Zoo II plan) is a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) building with a 50,000-U.S.-gallon (190,000 L) tank for Pacific coral reef species, as well as exhibits for Galapagos tortoises, false gharials, Komodo dragons, and other reptiles. There is a Galapagos tortoise sculpture next to it.
Opened in 2002,[5] Ndoki Forest houses two of the larger African species, the African elephant and western lowland gorilla, as well as de Brazza's monkey, slender-tailed meerkat, and various birds. The elephants live in a 1⁄2-acre (0.20 ha) yard with a 250,000-U.S.-gallon (950,000 L) pool.
Riverbanks Farm (opened in 1988) contains domestic animals and allows guests to feed the zoo's goats and llamas. Lemur Island is an exhibit including ring-tailed lemurs and red ruffed lemurs. Conservation Outpost has threatened species such as howler monkeys, fishing cats, and tree kangaroos. In 1983, the Education Center opened for Zoo Camp.
Kangaroo Walkabout is another recent addition. It has a path leading into the exhibit where visitors can view wallabies and red kangaroos without a barrier between them. However, visitors cannot stray from the path.
The Riverbanks Zoo has added a Malayan tapir on January 18, 2013, and a breeding pair of babirusas in 2012. The babirusas have successfully been bred and can be found in the previous warthog exhibit.
In June 2016 a new Sea lion exhibit was opened, which is modeled after San Francisco's Pier 39. Around that time the newly renovated Entrance, renovated otter exhibit, and renovated grizzly bear exhibit also opened. This was all part of the zoo's $36 million Destination Riverbanks plan.
Separate exhibits include hamadryas baboons, lions, Siberian tigers, meerkats, alligators, and siamangs.
The last original animal who had been there since the zoo's opening, a female Caribbean flamingo, died in March 2014.
The Birmingham Zoo's western lowland gorilla, Cenzoo was sent to this zoo in late February 2015 to breed with a female gorilla from North Carolina Zoo and two more female gorillas from Zoo Atlanta as part of the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverba...