The Sacramento Zoo has released a collection of conceptual drawings unveiling its vision for a new state-of-the-art zoological park in Elk Grove.
Announced last year, the Sacramento Zoo plans to build a larger attraction on a new site in Elk Grove in Sacramento County, California. The zoo will also improve animal care and habitats, and update the visitor experience and amenities.
“Our first priority is always doing what is best for the animals,” said Sacramento Zoological Society board president Elizabeth Stallard.
The current zoo is 94 years old and landlocked. It covers an area of 14.7 acres and offers limited parking space for visitors. The zoo had been searching for a new location in Sacramento for four years.
The conceptual drawings show a modern zoo featuring spacious savannahs, home to roaming African wildlife.
Zoo plans larger, state-of-the-art facility
They also depict various areas to allow visitors to encounter threatened species like the white rhinoceros and Masai giraffe, feed a hippopotamus or a flamingo, and spend the night in a luxury cabin with views of the hippopotamus lake.
The zoo’s next steps include developing a schematic design and financing plan, and completing an environmental impact review.
These stages will take at least a year to complete, with formal consideration by the Elk Grove City Council taking place as soon as late 2023.
The new facility “will allow the zoo to become one of the country’s world-class zoos while honoring its nearly 100-year history and heritage in the Sacramento region”, said Bobbie Singh-Allen, the mayor of Elk Grove.
Bristol Zoo Gardens, the fifth oldest zoo in the world, closed in September after 186 years. The new Bristol Zoo is being developed at the Wild Place Project in South Gloucestershire.
Images: Sacramento Zoo
