Zoo Expansion Almost Complete

The new animals for the expanded Peoria Zoo are expected to start arriving by the end of this month.

Giraffes, zebras, gazelles and rhinos will be the star attractions of the new Africa exhibit.
The Peoria Zoo is in the final stages of a 32–million dollars addition.
The Africa exhibit has been under construction for two years.
The fundraising campaign needs another five million dollars to build a new entrance complex.

“We want to have Peoria be a world–class city. And I think having world–class facilities like this helps to make that a possibility,” said David Bielfeldt, President of the Peoria Zoological Society.

“The quarantine areas are ready to go. When the animals arrive they will be in quarantine for about thirty days. Then we will start introducing them to each other, to the other species in the exhibit and to the exhibit itself,” said Dawn Petefish, Zoo Curator of Collections.

The new zoo is scheduled to open to the public next spring. A individual membership to the zoo starts at $32.

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